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DivisioaTT7234 

SecHon.  E.5B4 


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in  2019  with  funding  from 
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This  series  of  Scandinavian  Classics  is  published 
by  The  American -Scandinavian  Foundation  in  the 
belief  that  greater  familiarity  with  the  chief  literary 
monuments  of  the  North  will  help  Americans  to  a 
better  understanding  of  Scandinavians,  and  thus  serve 
to  stimulate  their  sympathetic  cooperation  to  good  ends 


SCANDINAVIAN  CLASSICS 
VOLUMES  XXI  AND  XXII 


THE  POETIC  EDDA 


ESTABLISHED  BY 
NIELS  POULSON 


THIS  VOLUME  IS  ENDOWED  IN  PART  BY  CHARLES  S.  PETERSON 

OF  CHICAGO 


. 


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A  PAGE  FROM  THE  CODEX  REGIUS  COMPRISING  VERSES 
31  TO  45  OF  THE  VOLUSPO 


•  -L-  >»-,.ii.cw  ^4,  «4, 


of  mei 


S 


D<aem  i>ndar 

THE 


POETIC  EDDA 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  ICELANDIC 
WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTES 

BY 


HENRY  ADAMS  BELLOWS 


TWO  VOLUMES  IN  ONE 


NEW  YORK 

THE  AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN  FOUNDATION 

LONDON:  HUMPHREY  MILFORD 
OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
1923 


Copyright ,  1923,  by  The  American-Scandinavian  Foundation 


C.  S.  Peterson ,  The  Regan  Press,  Chicago,  U.  S.  A. 


To  George  Lyman  Kittredge 


CONTENTS* 


General  Introduction . xi 

Lays  of  the  Gods 

Voluspo  .............  i 

Hovamol  .............  28 

Vafthruthnismol  ...........  68 

Grimnismol  . . 84 

Skirnismol  . . .107 

Harbarthsljoth  . . 121 

Hymiskvitha  ............  138 

Lokasenna  ............  151 

Thrymskvitha  ...........  174 

Alvissmol  ............  183 

Baldrs  Draumar  ...........  195 

Rigsthula  ............  201 

Hyndluljoth  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .  .  .  .217 

Svipdagsmol  ...........  234 

Lays  of  the  Heroes 

Völundarkvitha . 252 

Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar  ......  269 

Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I  ......  290 

Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II . 309 

Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  .........  332 

Gripisspo . 337 

Reginsmol . 356 

*  For  the  phonetic  spellings  of  the  proper  names  see  the  Pronouncing 
Index. 


Contents — Continued 


Fafnismol . .  370 

Sigrdrifumol . 386 

Brot  af  Sigurtharkvithu . 402 

Guthrunarkvitha  I . 41 1 

Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma . 420 

Helreith  Brynhildar . 442 

Drap  Niflunga . 447 

Guthrunarkvitha  II,  en  Forna . 450 

Guthrunarkvitha  III . 465 

Oddrunargratr . 469 

Atlakvitha  en  Grönlenzka . 480 

Atlamol  en  Grönlenzku . 499 

Guthrunarhvot . 536 

Hamthesmol .  545 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 


The  General  Introduction  mentions  many  of 
the  scholars  to  whose  work  this  translation  owes 
a  special  debt.  Particular  reference,  however, 
should  here  be  made  to  the  late  William  Henry 
Schofield,  Professor  of  Comparative  Literature  in 
Harvard  University  and  President  of  The  Amer- 
ican-Scandinavian  Foundation,  under  whose  guid¬ 
ance  this  translation  was  begun ;  to  Henry  God¬ 
dard  Leach,  for  many  years  Secretary  of  The 
American-Scandinavian  Foundation,  and  to  Wil¬ 
liam  Witherle  Lawrence,  Professor  of  English  in 
Columbia  University  and  Chairman  of  the 
Foundation’s  Committee  on  Publications,  for  their 
assistance  with  the  manuscript  and  the  proofs;  and 
to  Hanna  Astrup  Larsen,  the  Foundation’s  lit¬ 
erary  secretary,  for  her  efficient  management  of 
the  complex  details  of  publication. 


GENERAL  INTRODUCTION 


THERE  is  scarcely  any  literary  work  of  great  im¬ 
portance  which  has  been  less  readily  available  for 
the  general  reader,  or  even  for  the  serious  student  of 
literature,  than  the  Poetic  Edda.  Translations  have  been 
far  from  numerous,  and  only  in  Germany  has  the  complete 
work  of  translation  been  done  in  the  full  light  of  recent 
scholarship.  In  English  the  only  versions  were  long  the 
conspicuously  inadequate  one  made  by  Thorpe,  and  pub¬ 
lished  about  half  a  century  ago,  and  the  unsatisfactory 
prose  translations  in  Vigfusson  and  Powell’s  Corpus  Poeti- 
cum  Boreale ,  reprinted  in  the  Norrœna  collection.  An 
excellent  translation  of  the  poems  dealing  with  the  gods, 
in  verse  and  with  critical  and  explanatory  notes,  made  by 
Olive  Bray,  was,  however,  published  by  the  Viking  Club  of 
London  in  1908.  In  French  there  exist  only  partial  trans¬ 
lations,  chief  among  them  being  those  made  by  Bergmann 
many  years  ago.  Among  the  seven  or  eight  German  ver¬ 
sions,  those  by  the  Brothers  Grimm  and  by  Karl  Simrock, 
which  had  considerable  historical  importance  because  of 
their  influence  on  nineteenth  century  German  literature 
and  art,  and  particularly  on  the  work  of  Richard  Wagner, 
have  been  largely  superseded  by  Hugo  Gering’s  admirable 
translation,  published  in  1892,  and  by  the  recent  two- 
volume  rendering  by  Genzmer,  with  excellent  notes  by 
Andreas  Heusler,  19 14-1920.  There  are  competent  trans¬ 
lations  in  both  Norwegian  and  Swedish.  The  lack  of  any 
complete  and  adequately  annotated  English  rendering  in 
metrical  form,  based  on  a  critical  text,  and  profiting  by 
the  cumulative  labors  of  such  scholars  as  Mogk,  Vigfusson, 

[xi] 


Introduction 


Finnur  Jonsson,  Grundtvig,  Bugge,  Gislason,  Hildebrand, 
Liming,  Sweet,  Niedner,  Ettmiiller,  Miillenhoff,  Edzardi, 
B.  M.  Olsen,  Sievers,  Sijmons,  Detter,  Heinzel,  Falk, 
Neckel,  Heusler,  and  Gering,  has  kept  this  extraordinary 
work  practically  out  of  the  reach  of  those  who  have  had 
neither  time  nor  inclination  to  master  the  intricacies  of  the 
original  Old  Norse. 

On  the  importance  of  the  material  contained  in  the 
Poetic  Edda  it  is  here  needless  to  dwell  at  any  length.  We 
have  inherited  the  Germanic  traditions  in  our  very  speech, 
and  the  Poetic  Edda  is  the  original  storehouse  of  Germanic 
mythology.  It  is,  indeed,  in  many  ways  the  greatest  literary 
monument  preserved  to  us  out  of  the  antiquity  of  the  kin¬ 
dred  races  which  we  call  Germanic.  Moreover,  it  has  a 
literary  value  altogether  apart  from  its  historical  signifi¬ 
cance.  The  mythological  poems  include,  in  the  V oluspo,  one 
of  the  vastest  conceptions  of  the  creation  and  ultimate  de¬ 
struction  of  the  world  ever  crystallized  in  literary  form ;  in 
parts  of  the  Hovamol,  a  collection  of  wise  counsels  that 
can  bear  comparison  with  most  of  the  Biblical  Book  of 
Proverbs;  in  the  Lokasenna ,  a  comedy  none  the  less  full 
of  vivid  characterization  because  its  humor  is  often  broad ; 
and  in  the  Thrymskvitha ,  one  of  the  finest  ballads  in  the 
world.  The  hero  poems  give  us,  in  its  oldest  and  most  vivid 
extant  form,  the  story  of  Sigurth,  Brynhild,  and  Atli,  the 
Norse  parallel  to  the  German  Nibelungenlied.  The  Poetic 
Edda  is  not  only  of  great  interest  to  the  student  of  antiq¬ 
uity;  it  is  a  collection  including  some  of  the  most  remark¬ 
able  poems  which  have  been  preserved  to  us  from  the 
period  before  the  pen  and  the  printing-press  replaced  the 
poet-singer  and  oral  tradition.  It  is  above  all  else  the  de- 

[xii] 


Introduction 


sire  to  make  better  known  the  dramatic  force,  the  vivid  and 
often  tremendous  imagery,  and  the  superb  conceptions  em¬ 
bodied  in  these  poems  which  has  called  forth  the  present 
translation. 

WHAT  IS  THE  POETIC  EDDA  ? 

Even  if  the  poems  of  the  so-called  Edda  were  not  so  sig¬ 
nificant  and  intrinsically  so  valuable,  the  long  series  of 
scholarly  struggles  which  have  been  going  on  over  them 
for  the  better  part  of  three  centuries  would  in  itself  give 
them  a  peculiar  interest.  Their  history  is  strangely  mys¬ 
terious.  We  do  not  know  who  composed  them,  or  when 
or  where  they  were  composed ;  we  are  by  no  means  sure 
who  collected  them  or  when  he  did  so ;  finally,  we  are  not 
absolutely  certain  as  to  what  an  “Edda”  is,  and  the  best 
guess  at  the  meaning  of  the  word  renders  its  application  to 
this  collection  of  poems  more  or  less  misleading. 

A  brief  review  of  the  chief  facts  in  the  history  of  the 
Poetic  Edda  will  explain  why  this  uncertainty  has  per¬ 
sisted.  Preserved  in  various  manuscripts  of  the  thirteenth 
and  early  fourteenth  centuries  is  a  prose  work  consisting 
of  a  very  extensive  collection  of  mythological  stories,  an 
explanation  of  the  important  figures  and  tropes  of  Norse 
poetic  diction, — the  poetry  of  the  Icelandic  and  Norwegian 
skalds  was  appallingly  complex  in  this  respect, — and  a  treat¬ 
ise  on  metrics.  This  work,  clearly  a  handbook  for  poets, 
was  commonly  known  as  the  “Edda”  of  Snorri  Sturluson, 
for  at  the  head  of  the  copy  of  it  in  the  Uppsalabok,  a  man¬ 
uscript  written  presumably  some  fifty  or  sixty  years  after 
Snorri’s  death,  which  was  in  1241,  we  find:  “This  book  is 
called  Edda,  which  Snorri  Sturluson  composed.”  This 
work,  well  known  as  the  Prose  Edda,  Snorri’s  Edda  or  the 

[  xiii  ] 


Introduction 


1l  oanger  Edda,  has  recently  been  made  available  to  readers 
of  English  in  the  admirable  translation  by  Arthur  G. 
Brodeur,  published  by  the  American-Scandinavian  Foun¬ 
dation  in  1916. 

Icelandic  tradition,  however,  persisted  in  ascribing  either 
this  Edda  or  one  resembling  it  to  Snorri’s  much  earlier 
compatriot,  Sæmund  the  Wise  (1056-1133).  When,  early 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  learned  Arngrimur  Jonsson 
proved  to  everyone’s  satisfaction  that  Snorri  and  nobody 
else  must  have  been  responsible  for  the  work  in  question, 
the  next  thing  to  determine  was  what,  if  anything,  Sæmund 
had  done  of  the  same  kind.  The  nature  of  Snorri’s  book 
gave  a  clue.  In  the  mythological  stories  related  a  number 
of  poems  were  quoted,  and  as  these  and  other  poems  were 
to  all  appearances  Snorri’s  chief  sources  of  information,  it 
was  assumed  that  Sæmund  must  have  written  or  compiled 
a  verse  Edda — whatever  an  “Edda”  might  be — on  which 
Snorri’s  work  was  largely  based. 

So  matters  stood  when,  in  1643,  Brynjolfur  Sveinsson, 
Bishop  of  Skalholt,  discovered  a  manuscript,  clearly  written 
as  early  as  1300,  containing  twenty-nine  poems,  complete 
or  fragmentary,  and  some  of  them  with  the  very  lines  and 
stanzas  used  by  Snorri.  Great  was  the  joy  of  the  scholars, 
for  here,  of  course,  must  be  at  least  a  part  of  the  long-sought 
Edda  of  Sæmund  the  Wise.  Thus  the  good  bishop  promptly 
labeled  his  find,  and  as  Sæmund’s  Edda ,  the  Elder  Edda 
or  the  Poetic  Edda  it  has  been  known  to  this  day. 

This  precious  manuscript,  now  in  the  Royal  Library  in 
Copenhagen,  and  known  as  the  Codex  Regius  (R2365), 
has  been  the  basis  for  all  published  editions  of  the  Eddie 
poems.  A  few  poems  of  similar  character  found  elsewhere 

1  xiv  ] 


Introduction 


have  subsequently  been  added  to  the  collection,  until  now 
most  editions  include,  as  in  this  translation,  a  total  of 
thirty-four.  A  shorter  manuscript  now  in  the  Arnamagnæan 
collection  in  Copenhagen  (AM748),  contains  fragmen¬ 
tary  or  complete  versions  of  six  of  the  poems  in  the  Codex 
Regius ,  and  one  other,  Baldrs  Draumar ,  not  found  in  that 
collection.  Four  other  poems  ( Rigsthula ,  Hyndluljoth , 
Grougaldr  and  Fjolsvinnsmol the  last  two  here  combined 
under  the  title  of  Svipdagsmol) ,  from  various  manuscripts, 
so  closely  resemble  in  subject-matter  and  style  the  poems 
in  the  Codex  Regius  that  they  have  been  included  by  most 
editors  in  the  collection.  Finally,  Snorri’s  Edda  contains 
one  complete  poem,  the  Grottasongr ,  which  many  editors 
have  added  to  the  poetic  collection;  it  is,  however,  not 
included  in  this  translation,  as  an  admirable  English  ver¬ 
sion  of  it  is  available  in  Mr.  Brodeur’s  rendering  of  Snorri’s 
work. 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  the  Poetic  Edda ,  as  we 
now  know  it,  is  no  definite  and  plainly  limited  work,  but 
rather  a  more  or  less  haphazard  collection  of  separate 
poems,  dealing  either  with  Norse  mythology  or  with  hero- 
cycles  unrelated  to  the  traditional  history  of  greater  Scan¬ 
dinavia  or  Iceland.  How  many  other  similar  poems,  now 
lost,  may  have  existed  in  such  collections  as  were  current 
in  Iceland  in  the  later  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries  we 
cannot  know,  though  it  is  evident  that  some  poems  of  this 
type  are  missing.  We  can  say  only  that  thirty-four  poems 
have  been  preserved,  twenty-nine  of  them  in  a  single  manu¬ 
script  collection,  which  differ  considerably  in  subject-mat¬ 
ter  and  style  from  all  the  rest  of  extant  Old  Norse  poetry, 
and  these  we  group  together  as  the  Poetic  Edda. 

[xv] 


Introduction 


But  what  does  the  word  “Edda”  mean?  Various  guesses 
have  been  made.  An  early  assumption  was  that  the  word 
somehow  meant  “Poetics,”  which  fitted  Snorri’s  treatise 
to  a  nicety,  but  which,  in  addition  to  the  lack  of  philologi¬ 
cal  evidence  to  support  this  interpretation,  could  by  no 
stretch  of  scholarly  subtlety  be  made  appropriate  to  the 
collection  of  poems.  Jacob  Grimm  ingeniously  identified 
the  word  with  the  word  “edda”  used  in  one  of  the  poems, 
the  Rigsthula ,  where,  rather  conjecturally,  it  means 
“great-grandmother.”  The  word  exists  in  this  sense  no¬ 
where  else  in  Norse  literature,  and  Grimm’s  suggestion  of 
“Tales  of  a  Grandmother,”  though  at  one  time  it  found 
wide  acceptance,  was  grotesquely  inappropriate  to  either 
the  prose  or  the  verse  work. 

At  last  Eirikr  Magnusson  hit  on  what  appears  the  likeli¬ 
est  solution  of  the  puzzle:  that  “Edda”  is  simply  the  gen¬ 
itive  form  of  the  proper  name  “Oddi.”  Oddi  was  a  settle¬ 
ment  in  the  southwest  of  Iceland,  certainly  the  home  of 
Snorri  Sturluson  for  many  years,  and,  traditionally  at 
least,  also  the  home  of  Sæmund  the  Wise.  That  Snorri’s 
work  should  have  been  called  “The  Book  of  Oddi”  is  al¬ 
together  reasonable,  for  such  a  method  of  naming  books 
was  common — witness  the  “Book  of  the  Flat  Island”  and 
other  early  manuscripts.  That  Sæmund  may  also  have 
written  or  compiled  another  “Oddi-Book”  is  perfectly 
possible,  and  that  tradition  should  have  said  he  did  so  is 
entirely  natural. 

It  is,  however,  an  open  question  whether  or  not  Sæmund 
had  anything  to  do  with  making  the  collection,  or  any  part 
of  it,  now  known  as  the  Poetic  Edda ,  for  of  course  the 
seventeenth-century  assignment  of  the  work  to  him  is  neg- 

1  xvi  1 


Introduction 


ligible.  We  can  say  only  that  he  may  have  made  some  such 
compilation,  for  he  was  a  diligent  student  of  Icelandic  tra¬ 
dition  and  history,  and  was  famed  throughout  the  North 
for  his  learning.  But  otherwise  no  trace  of  his  works  sur¬ 
vives,  and  as  he  was  educated  in  Paris,  it  is  probable  that 
he  wrote  rather  in  Latin  than  in  the  vernacular. 

All  that  is  reasonably  certain  is  that  by  the  middle  or 
last  of  the  twelfth  century  there  existed  in  Iceland  one  or 
more  written  collections  of  Old  Norse  mythological  and 
heroic  poems,  that  the  Codex  Regius,  a  copy  made  a  hun¬ 
dred  years  or  so  later,  represents  at  least  a  considerable 
part  of  one  of  these,  and  that  the  collection  of  thirty-four 
poems  which  we  now  know  as  the  Poetic  or  Elder  Edda  is 
practically  all  that  has  come  down  to  us  of  Old  Norse 
poetry  of  this  type.  Anything  more  is  largely  guesswork, 
and  both  the  name  of  the  compiler  and  the  meaning  of  the 
title  “Edda”  are  conjectural. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  EDDIC  POEMS 

There  is  even  less  agreement  about  the  birthplace, 
authorship  and  date  of  the  Eddie  poems  themselves  than 
about  the  nature  of  the  existing  collection.  Clearly  the 
poems  were  the  work  of  many  different  men,  living  in 
different  periods ;  clearly,  too,  most  of  them  existed  in  oral 
tradition  for  generations  before  they  were  first  committed 
to  writing.  In  general  the  mythological  poems  are  strongly 
heathen  in  character,  and  as  Christianity  became  generally 
accepted  throughout  Norway  and  Iceland  early  in  the  elev¬ 
enth  century,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  most  of  the  poems 
dealing  with  the  Norse  gods  antedate  the  year  1000.  On 
the  other  hand,  Hoffory,  Finnur  Jonsson  and  others  have 
shown  pretty  conclusively  from  linguistic  evidence  that 

[  xvii  ] 


Introduction 


these  poems  cannot  have  assumed  anything  like  their  pres¬ 
ent  form  before  the  ninth  century.  As  for  the  poems  be¬ 
longing  to  the  hero  cycles,  one  or  two  of  them  appear  to 
be  as  late  as  noo,  but  most  of  them  clearly  belong  to  the 
hundred  years  following  950.  It  is  a  fairly  safe  guess  that 
the  years  between  900  and  1050  saw  the  majority  of  the 
Eddie  poems  put  into  shape,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  many  changes  took  place  during  the  long  subsequent 
period  of  oral  transmission,  and  also  that  many  of  the 
legends,  both  mythological  and  heroic,  on  which  the  poems 
were  based,  certainly  existed  in  Norway,  and  quite  pos¬ 
sibly  in  verse  form,  long  before  the  year  900.  In  consider¬ 
ing  such  poems  it  is  essential  to  forget  the  present  mode 
of  composition,  whereby  a  poet  at  once  fixes  his  thought 
and  his  style  by  means  of  writing,  and  to  remember  that  for 
at  least  two  centuries,  and  possibly  much  longer,  the  cor¬ 
rect  transmission  of  many  of  the  Eddie  poems  depended 
solely  on  accurate  hearing  and  retentive  memory. 

As  to  the  origin  of  the  legends  on  which  the  poems  are 
based,  the  whole  question,  at  least  so  far  as  the  stories  of 
the  gods  are  concerned,  is  much  too  complex  for  discus¬ 
sion  here.  How  much  of  the  actual  narrative  material  of 
the  mythological  lays  is  properly  to  be  called  Scandinav¬ 
ian  is  a  matter  for  students  of  comparative  mythology  to 
guess  at.  The  tales  underlying  the  heroic  lays  are  clearly  of 
foreign  origin :  the  Helgi  story  comes  from  Denmark,  and 
that  of  Völund  from  Germany,  as  also  the  great  mass  of 
traditions  centering  around  Sigurth  (Siegfried),  Brynhild, 
the  sons  of  Gjuki,  Atli  (Attila) ,  and  Jormunrek  (Ermana- 
rich).  The  introductory  notes  to  the  various  poems  deal 
with  the  more  important  of  these  questions  of  origin. 

[xviii] 


Introduction 


Of  the  men  who  composed  these  poems, — “wrote”  is 
obviously  the  wrong  word, — we  know  absolutely  nothing, 
save  that  some  of  them  must  have  been  literary  artists  with 
a  high  degree  of  conscious  skill.  The  Eddie  poems  are 
“folk-poetry,” — whatever  that  may  be, — only  in  the  sense 
that  some  of  them  strongly  reflect  racial  feelings  and  be¬ 
liefs;  they  are  anything  but  crude  or  primitive  in  work¬ 
manship,  and  they  show  that  not  only  the  poets  themselves, 
but  also  many  of  their  hearers,  must  have  made  a  careful 
study  of  the  art  of  poetry. 

Where  the  poems  were  composed  is  almost  equally  un¬ 
certain.  The  claims  of  Norway  have  been  extensively  ad¬ 
vanced,  but  the  great  literary  activity  of  Iceland  after  the 
settlement  of  the  island  by  Norwegian  emigrants  late  in 
the  ninth  century  makes  the  theory  of  an  Icelandic  source 
for  most  of  the  poems  plausible.  The  two  Atli  lays,  with 
what  authority  we  do  not  know,  bear  in  the  Codex  Regius 
the  superscription  “the  Greenland  poem,”  and  internal 
evidence  indicates  that  this  statement  is  correct.  Certainly 
in  one  poem,  the  Rigsthula ,  and  probably  in  several  others, 
there  are  marks  of  Celtic  influence.  During  a  considerable 
part  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  Scandinavians  were 
active  in  Ireland  and  in  most  of  the  western  islands  in¬ 
habited  by  branches  of  the  Celtic  race.  Some  scholars  claim 
nearly  all  the  Eddie  poems  for  these  “Western  Isles,”  in 
sharp  distinction  from  Iceland ;  their  arguments  are  com¬ 
mented  on  in  the  introductory  note  to  the  Rigsthula.  How¬ 
ever,  as  Iceland  early  came  to  be  the  true  center  of  this 
Scandinavian  island  world,  it  may  be  said  that  most  of  the 
evidence  concerning  the  birthplace  of  the  Eddie  poems  in 
anything  like  their  present  form  points  in  that  direction, 

[  xix  ] 


Introduction 

and  certainly  it  was  in  Iceland  that  they  were  chiefly  pre¬ 
served. 

THE  EDDA  AND  OLD  NORSE  LITERATURE 

Within  the  proper  limits  of  an  introduction  it  would 
be  impossible  to  give  any  adequate  summary  of  the  history 
and  literature  with  which  the  Eddie  poems  are  indissolubly 
connected,  but  a  mere  mention  of  a  few  of  the  salient  facts 
may  be  of  some  service  to  those  who  are  unfamiliar  with 
the  subject.  Old  Norse  literature  covers  approximately 
the  period  between  850  and  1300.  During  the  first  part  of 
that  period  occurred  the  great  wanderings  of  the  Scandi¬ 
navian  peoples,  and  particularly  the  Norwegians.  A  con¬ 
venient  date  to  remember  is  that  of  the  sea-fight  of  Hafrs- 
fjord,  872,  when  Harald  the  Fair-Haired  broke  the  power 
of  the  independent  Norwegian  nobles,  and  made  himself 
overlord  of  nearly  all  the  country.  Many  of  the  defeated 
nobles  fled  overseas,  where  inviting  refuges  had  been 
found  for  them  by  earlier  wanderers  and  plunder-seeking 
raiders.  This  was  the  time  of  the  inroads  of  the  dreaded 
Northmen  in  France,  and  in  885  Hrolf  Gangr  (Rollo) 
laid  siege  to  Paris  itself.  Many  Norwegians  went  to  Ire¬ 
land,  where  their  compatriots  had  already  built  Dublin, 
and  where  they  remained  in  control  of  most  of  the  island 
till  Brian  Boru  shattered  their  power  at  the  battle  of 
Clontarf  in  1014. 

Of  all  the  migrations,  however,  the  most  important 
were  those  to  Iceland.  Here  grew  up  an  active  civilization, 
fostered  by  absolute  independence  and  by  remoteness  from 
the  wars  which  wracked  Norway,  yet  kept  from  degener¬ 
ating  into  provincialism  by  the  roving  life  of  the  people, 
which  brought  them  constantly  in  contact  with  the  culture 

[xx] 


Introduction 


of  the  South.  Christianity,  introduced  throughout  the 
Norse  world  about  the  year  1000,  brought  with  it  the  sta¬ 
bility  of  learning,  and  the  Icelanders  became  not  only  the 
makers  but  also  the  students  and  recorders  of  history. 

The  years  between  875  and  1100  were  the  great  spon¬ 
taneous  period  of  oral  literature.  Most  of  the  military  and 
political  leaders  were  also  poets,  and  they  composed  a  mass 
of  lyric  poetry  concerning  the  authorship  of  which  we  know 
a  good  deal,  and  much  of  which  has  been  preserved.  Narra¬ 
tive  prose  also  flourished,  for  the  Icelander  had  a  passion 
for  story-telling  and  story-hearing.  After  1 100  came  the 
day  of  the  writers.  These  sagamen  collected  the  material 
that  for  generations  had  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
and  gave  it  permanent  form  in  writing.  The  greatest  bulk 
of  what  we  now  have  of  Old  Norse  literature, — and  the 
published  part  of  it  makes  a  formidable  library, — originated 
thus  in  the  earlier  period  before  the  introduction  of  writing, 
and  was  put  into  final  shape  by  the  scholars,  most  of  them 
Icelanders,  of  the  hundred  years  following  1150. 

After  1250  came  a  rapid  and  tragic  decline.  Iceland  lost 
its  independence,  becoming  a  Norwegian  province.  Later 
Norway  too  fell  under  alien  rule,  a  Swede  ascending  the 
Norwegian  throne  in  1320.  Pestilence  and  famine  laid 
waste  the  whole  North;  volcanic  disturbances  worked 
havoc  in  Iceland.  Literature  did  not  quite  die,  but  it  fell 
upon  evil  days;  for  the  vigorous  native  narratives  and 
heroic  poems  of  the  older  period  were  substituted  trans¬ 
lations  of  French  romances.  The  poets  wrote  mostly  dog¬ 
gerel;  the  prose  writers  were  devoid  of  national  or  racial 
inspiration. 

The  mass  of  literature  thus  collected  and  written  down 

[  xxi  ] 


Introduction 


largely  between  1150  and  1250  may  be  roughly  divided  into 
four  groups.  The  greatest  in  volume  is  made  up  of  the 
sagas :  narratives  mainly  in  prose,  ranging  all  the  way  from 
authentic  history  of  the  Norwegian  kings  and  the  early 
Icelandic  settlements  to  fairy-tales.  Embodied  in  the  sagas 
is  found  the  material  composing  the  second  group :  the 
skaldic  poetry,  a  vast  collection  of  songs  of  praise,  triumph, 
love,  lamentation,  and  so  on,  almost  uniformly  character¬ 
ized  by  an  appalling  complexity  of  figurative  language. 
There  is  no  absolute  line  to  be  drawn  between  the  poetry 
of  the  skalds  and  the  poems  of  the  Edda,  which  we  may 
call  the  third  group;  but  in  addition  to  the  remarkable 
artificiality  of  style  which  marks  the  skaldic  poetry,  and 
which  is  seldom  found  in  the  poems  of  the  Edda,  the  skalds 
dealt  almost  exclusively  with  their  own  emotions,  whereas 
the  Eddie  poems  are  quite  impersonal.  Finally,  there  is 
the  fourth  group,  made  up  of  didactic  works,  religious  and 
legal  treatises,  and  so  on,  studies  which  originated  chiefly 
in  the  later  period  of  learned  activity. 

PRESERVATION  OF  THE  EDDIC  POEMS 
Most  of  the  poems  of  the  Poetic  Edda  have  unquestion¬ 
ably  reached  us  in  rather  bad  shape.  During  the  long  pe¬ 
riod  of  oral  transmission  they  suffered  all  sorts  of  inter¬ 
polations,  omissions  and  changes,  and  some  of  them,  as 
they  now  stand,  are  a  bewildering  hodge-podge  of  little- 
related  fragments.  To  some  extent  the  diligent  twelfth 
century  compiler  to  whom  we  owe  the  Codex  Regius — 
Sæmund  or  another — was  himself  doubtless  responsible  for 
the  patchwork  process,  often  supplemented  by  narrative 
prose  notes  of  his  own ;  but  in  the  days  before  written  rec¬ 
ords  existed,  it  was  easy  to  lose  stanzas  and  longer  pas- 

[  xxii  ] 


Introduction 


sages  from  their  context,  and  equally  easy  to  interpolate 
them  where  they  did  not  by  any  means  belong.  Some  few 
of  the  poems,  however,  appear  to  be  virtually  complete 
and  unified  as  we  now  have  them. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  is  clear  that  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  a  satisfactory  text  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  diffi¬ 
culty.  As  the  basis  for  this  translation  I  have  used  the  text 
prepared  by  Karl  Hildebrand  (1876)  and  revised  by  Hugo 
Gering  (1904).  Textual  emendation  has,  however,  been 
so  extensive  in  every  edition  of  the  Edda,  and  has  depended 
so  much  on  the  theories  of  the  editor,  that  I  have  also  made 
extensive  use  of  many  other  editions,  notably  those  by 
Finnur  Jonsson,  Neckel,  Sijmons,  and  Detter  and  Heinzel, 
together  with  numerous  commentaries.  The  condition  of 
the  text  in  both  the  principal  codices  is  such  that  no  great 
reliance  can  be  placed  on  the  accuracy  of  the  copyists,  and 
frequently  two  editions  will  differ  fundamentally  as  to 
their  readings  of  a  given  passage  or  even  of  an  entire  poem. 
For  this  reason,  and  because  guesswork  necessarily  plays 
so  large  a  part  in  any  edition  or  translation  of  the  Eddie 
poems,  I  have  risked  overloading  the  pages  with  textual 
notes  in  order  to  show,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  exact  state 
of  the  original  together  with  all  the  more  significant  emen¬ 
dations.  I  have  done  this  particularly  in  the  case  of  trans¬ 
positions,  many  of  which  appear  absolutely  necessary,  and 
in  the  indication  of  passages  which  appear  to  be  interpola¬ 
tions. 

THE  VERSE-FORMS  OF  THE  EDDIC  POEMS 

The  many  problems  connected  with  the  verse-forms 
found  in  the  Eddie  poems  have  been  analyzed  in  great  de¬ 
tail  by  Sievers,  Neckel,  and  others.  The  three  verse-forms 

[  xxiii  ] 


Introduction 


exemplified  in  the  poems  need  only  a  brief  comment  here, 
however,  in  order  to  make  clear  the  method  used  in  this 
translation.  All  of  these  forms  group  the  lines  normally 
in  four-line  stanzas.  In  the  so-called  Fornyrthislag  (“Old 
Verse”),  for  convenience  sometimes  referred  to  in  the 
notes  as  four-four  measure,  these  lines  have  all  the  same 
structure,  each  line  being  sharply  divided  by  a  cæsural  pause 
into  two  half-lines,  and  each  half-line  having  two  accented 
syllables  and  two  (sometimes  three)  unaccented  ones. 
The  two  half-lines  forming  a  complete  line  are  bound 
together  by  the  alliteration,  or  more  properly  initial-rhyme, 
of  three  (or  two)  of  the  accented  syllables.  The  following 
is  an  example  of  the  Fornyrthislag  stanza,  the  accented 
syllables  being  in  italics : 

Vreiþr  vas  Ving\)ó rr,  es  vakna\>i 
ok  sins  ha?nars  of  sakna\) i; 
skegg  nam  hris ta,  skgr  nam  dý j a, 
réþ  Jarþ ar  burr  umb  at  þreif ask. 

In  the  second  form,  the  Ljothahattr  (“Song  Measure”), 
the  first  and  third  line  of  each  stanza  are  as  just  described, 
but  the  second  and  fourth  are  shorter,  have  no  cæsural 
pause,  have  three  accented  syllables,  and  regularly  two 
initial-rhymed  accented  syllables,  for  which  reason  I  have 
occasionally  referred  to  Ljothahattr  as  four-three  meas¬ 
ure.  The  following  is  an  example: 

Ar  skal  ma  sás  ^Tznars  vill 
fé  eþa  fjgr  haf a ; 

/h^jandi  ulfr  sjaldan  láer  of  getr 
né  sof andi  maþr  sigr. 

In  the  third  and  least  commonly  used  form,  the  Mala- 
hattr  (“Speech  Measure”),  a  younger  verse-form  than 

[  xxiv  ] 


Introduction 


either  of  the  other  two,  each  line  of  the  four-line  stanza  is 
divided  into  two  half-lines  by  a  cæsural  pause,  each  half- 
line  having  two  accented  syllables  and  three  (sometimes 
four)  unaccented  ones;  the  initial  rhyme  is  as  in  the  For- 
nyrthislag.  The  following  is  an  example: 

Horsk  vas  húsí reyja,  hug\)i  at  mannw iti, 

lag  heyrþi  orþ a,  hvat  á  laun  máel tu ; 

þá  vas  vant  vitri,  vildi  þeim  hjalþa: 
skyldu  of  st íe  sigla,  en  sjglf  né  kvamsk at. 

A  poem  in  Fornyrthislag  is  normally  entitled  -kvitha 
( Thrymskvitha ,  Guthrunar  kvitha,  etc.),  which  for  con¬ 
venience  I  have  rendered  as  “lay,”  while  a  poem  in 
Ljothahattr  is  entitled  -mol  ( Grimnismol ,  Skirnismol, 
etc.),  which  I  have  rendered  as  “ballad.”  It  is  difficult  to 
find  any  distinction  other  than  metrical  between  the  two 
terms,  although  it  is  clear  that  one  originally  existed. 

Variations  frequently  appear  in  all  three  kinds  of  verse, 
and  these  I  have  attempted  to  indicate  through  the  rhythm 
of  the  translation.  In  order  to  preserve  so  far  as  possible 
the  effect  of  the  Eddie  verse,  I  have  adhered,  in  making 
the  English  version,  to  certain  of  the  fundamental  rules 
governing  the  Norse  line  and  stanza  formations.  The 
number  of  lines  to  each  stanza  conforms  to  what  seems  the 
best  guess  as  to  the  original,  and  I  have  consistently  re¬ 
tained  the  number  of  accented  syllables.  In  translating 
from  a  highly  inflected  language  into  one  depending  largely 
on  the  use  of  subsidiary  words,  it  has,  however,  been  nec¬ 
essary  to  employ  considerable  freedom  as  to  the  number  of 
unaccented  syllables  in  a  line.  The  initial-rhyme  is  gener¬ 
ally  confined  to  two  accented  syllables  in  each  line.  As  in 
the  original,  all  initial  vowels  are  allowed  to  rhyme  inter- 

[  xxv  ] 


Introduction 


changeably,  but  I  have  disregarded  the  rule  which  lets 
certain  groups  of  consonants  rhyme  only  with  themselves 
(e.g.,  I  have  allowed  initial  í  or  st  to  rhyme  with  sk  or 
si).  In  general,  I  have  sought  to  preserve  the  effect  of  the 
original  form  whenever  possible  without  an  undue  sacrifice 
of  accuracy.  For  purposes  of  comparison,  the  translations 
of  the  three  stanzas  just  given  are  here  included: 
Fornyrthislag: 

Wild  was  Vingthor  when  he  a  woke, 

And  when  his  mighty  hammer  he  missed ; 

He  shook  his  beard ,  his  hair  was  bristling, 

To  groping  set  the  son  of  Jorth. 

Ljothahattr : 

He  must  early  go  forth  who  fain  the  blood 
Or  the  goods  of  another  would  get; 

The  wolf  that  lies  idle  shall  win  little  meat , 

Or  the  sleeping  man  succm. 

Malahattr : 

Wise  was  the  woman,  she  fain  would  use  z/didom, 

She  saw  well  what  meant  all  they  said  in  secret; 

From  her  heart  it  was  hid  how  help  she  might 
render, 

The  sea  they  should  sail ,  while  her  self  she  should  go 

not. 

PROPER  NAMES 

The  forms  in  which  the  proper  names  appear  in  this 
translation  will  undoubtedly  perplex  and  annoy  those  who 
have  become  accustomed  to  one  or  another  of  the  current 
methods  of  anglicising  old  Norse  names.  The  nominative 
ending  -r  it  has  seemed  best  to  omit  after  consonants, 
although  it  has  been  retained  after  vowels;  in  Baldr  the 

[  xxvi  ] 


Introduction 


final  -r  is  a  part  of  the  stem  and  is  of  course  retained.  I 
have  rendered  the  Norse  þ  by  “th”  throughout,  instead  of 
spasmodically  by  “d,”  as  in  many  texts:  e.  g.,  Othin  in¬ 
stead  of  Odin.  For  the  Norse  0  I  have  used  its  equiva¬ 
lent,  “ö,”  e.  g.j  Völund;  for  the  o  I  have  used  “o”  and  not 
“a,”  e.  g.,  Voluspo,  not  Valuspa  or  Voluspa.  To  avoid 
confusion  with  accents  the  long  vowel  marks  of  the  Ice¬ 
landic  are  consistently  omitted,  as  likewise  in  modern 
Icelandic  proper  names.  The  index  at  the  end  of  the  book 
indicates  the  pronunciation  in  each  case. 

CONCLUSION 

That  this  translation  may  be  of  some  value  to  those  who 
can  read  the  poems  of  the  Edda  in  the  original  language  I 
earnestly  hope.  Still  more  do  I  wish  that  it  may  lead  a 
few  who  hitherto  have  given  little  thought  to  the  Old 
Norse  language  and  literature  to  master  the  tongue  for 
themselves.  But  far  above  either  of  these  I  place  the  hope 
that  this  English  version  may  give  to  some,  who  have 
known  little  of  the  ancient  traditions  of  what  is  after  all 
their  own  race,  a  clearer  insight  into  the  glories  of  that 
extraordinary  past,  and  that  I  may  through  this  medium 
be  able  to  bring  to  others  a  small  part  of  the  delight  which 
I  myself  have  found  in  the  poems  of  the  Poetic  Edda. 


[  xxv ii  ] 


p 


THE  POETIC  EDDA 


o  c 


VOLUME  I 


LAYS  OF  THE  GODS 


VOLUSPO 

The  Wise-Woman  s  Prophecy 

Introductory  Note 

At  the  beginning  of  the  collection  in  the  Codex  Regius  stands 
the  Voluspo,  the  most  famous  and  important,  as  it  is  likewise 
the  most  debated,  of  all  the  Eddie  poems.  Another  version  of  it 
is  found  in  a  huge  miscellaneous  compilation  of  about  the  year 
1300,  the  Hauksbok,  and  many  stanzas  are  included  in  the  Prose 
Edda  of  Snorri  Sturluson.  The  order  of  the  stanzas  in  the 
Hauksbok  version  differs  materially  from  that  in  the  Codex 
Regius,  and  in  the  published  editions  many  experiments  have 
been  attempted  in  further  rearrangements.  On  the  whole,  how¬ 
ever,  and  allowing  for  certain  interpolations,  the  order  of  the 
stanzas  in  the  Codex  Regius  seems  more  logical  than  any  of 
the  wholesale  “improvements”  which  have  been  undertaken. 

The  general  plan  of  the  Voluspo  is  fairly  clear.  Othin,  chief 
of  the  gods,  always  conscious  of  impending  disaster  and  eager 
for  knowledge,  calls  on  a  certain  “Volva,”  or  wise-woman,  pre¬ 
sumably  bidding  her  rise  from  the  grave.  She  first  tells  him  of 
the  past,  of  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  beginning  of  years, 
the  origin  of  the  dwarfs  (at  this  point  there  is  a  clearly  inter¬ 
polated  catalogue  of  dwarfs’  names,  stanzas  10-16),  of  the  first 
man  and  woman,  of  the  world-ash  Yggdrasil,  and  of  the  first 
war,  between  the  gods  and  the  Vanir,  or,  in  Anglicized  form,  the 
Wanes.  Then,  in  stanzas  27-29,  as  a  further  proof  of  her 
wisdom,  she  discloses  some  of  Othin’s  own  secrets  and  the  de¬ 
tails  of  his  search  for  knowledge.  Rewarded  by  Othin  for  what 
she  has  thus  far  told  (stanza  30),  she  then  turns  to  the  real 
prophesy,  the  disclosure  of  the  final  destruction  of  the  gods. 
This  final  battle,  in  which  fire  and  flood  overwhelm  heaven  and 
earth  as  the  gods  fight  with  their  enemies,  is  the  great  fact  in  Norse 
mythology;  the  phrase  describing  it,  ragna  rök,  “the  fate  of  the 
gods,”  has  become  familiar,  by  confusion  with  the  word  rökkr, 
“twilight,”  in  the  German  Gött er damtn erung.  The  wise-woman 
tells  of  the  Valkyries  who  bring  the  slain  warriors  to  support 
Othin  and  the  other  gods  in  the  battle,  of  the  slaying  of  Baldr, 
best  and  fairest  of  the  gods,  through  the  wiles  of  Loki,  of  the 
enemies  of  the  gods,  of  the  summons  to  battle  on  both  sides,  and 
of  the  mighty  struggle,  till  Othin  is  slain,  and  “fire  leaps  high 

[1] 


Poetic  Edda 


about  heaven  itself”  (stanzas  31-58).  But  this  is  not  all.  A 
new  and  beautiful  world  is  to  rise  on  the  ruins  of  the  old; 
Baldr  comes  back,  and  “fields  unsowed  bear  ripened  fruit” 
(stanzas  59-66). 

This  final  passage,  in  particular,  has  caused  wide  differences 
of  opinion  as  to  the  date  and  character  of  the  poem.  That  the 
poet  was  heathen  and  not  Christian  seems  almost  beyond  dis¬ 
pute;  there  is  an  intensity  and  vividness  in  almost  every  stanza 
which  no  archaizing  Christian  could  possibly  have  achieved. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  evidences  of  Christian  influence  are 
sufficiently  striking  to  outweigh  the  arguments  of  Finnur  Jonsson, 
Miillenhoff  and  others  who  maintain  that  the  Voluspo  is  purely 
a  product  of  heathendom.  The  roving  Norsemen  of  the  tenth 
century,  very  few  of  whom  had  as  yet  accepted  Christianity, 
were  nevertheless  in  close  contact  with  Celtic  races  which  had 
already  been  converted,  and  in  many  ways  the  Celtic  influence 
was  strongly  felt.  It  seems  likely,  then,  that  the  Voluspo  was  the 
work  of  a  poet  living  chiefly  in  Iceland,  though  possibly  in  the 
“Western  Isles,”  in  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century,  a  vigorous 
believer  in  the  old  gods,  and  yet  with  an  imagination  active 
enough  to  be  touched  by  the  vague  tales  of  a  different  religion 
emanating  from  his  neighbor  Celts. 

How  much  the  poem  was  altered  during  the  two  hundred 
years  between  its  composition  and  its  first  being  committed  to 
writing  is  largely  a  matter  of  guesswork,  but,  allowing  for  such 
an  obvious  interpolation  as  the  catalogue  of  dwarfs,  and  for 
occasional  lesser  errors,  it  seems  quite  needless  to  assume  such 
great  changes  as  many  editors  do.  The  poem  was  certainly  not 
composed  to  tell  a  story  with  which  its  early  hearers  were  quite 
familiar;  the  lack  of  continuity  which  baffles  modern  readers 
presumably  did  not  trouble  them  in  the  least.  It  is,  in  effect,  a 
series  of  gigantic  pictures,  put  into  words  with  a  directness  and 
sureness  which  bespeak  the  poet  of  genius.  It  is  only  after  the 
reader,  with  the  help  of  the  many  notes,  has  familiarized  him¬ 
self  with  the  names  and  incidents  involved  that  he  can  begin  to 
understand  the  effect  which  this  magnificent  poem  must  have 
produced  on  those  who  not  only  understood  but  believed  it. 


[2] 


Voluspo 

1.  Hearing  I  ask  from  the  holy  races, 

From  Heimdall’s  sons,  both  high  and  low; 
Thou  wilt,  Valfather,  that  well  I  relate 
Old  tales  I  remember  of  men  long  ago. 

2.  I  remember  yet  the  giants  of  yore, 

Who  gave  me  bread  in  the  days  gone  by ; 
Nine  worlds  I  knew,  the  nine  in  the  tree 
With  mighty  roots  beneath  the  mold. 


1.  A  few  editors,  following  Bugge,  in  an  effort  to  clarify 
the  poem,  place  stanzas  22,  28  and  30  before  stanzas  1-20,  but 
the  arrangement  in  both  manuscripts,  followed  here,  seems 
logical.  In  stanza  1  the  Volva,  or  wise-woman,  called  upon  by 
Othin,  answers  him  and  demands  a  hearing.  Evidently  she  be¬ 
longs  to  the  race  of  the  giants  (cf.  stanza  2),  and  thus  speaks  to 
Othin  unwillingly,  being  compelled  to  do  so  by  his  magic  power. 
Holy:  omitted  in  Regius ;  the  phrase  “holy  races”  probably  means 
little  more  than  mankind  in  general.  Heimdall:  the  watchman 
of  the  gods;  cf.  stanza  46  and  note.  Why  mankind  should  be 
referred  to  as  Heimdall’s  sons  is  uncertain,  and  the  phrase  has 
caused  much  perplexity.  Heimdall  seems  to  have  had  various  at¬ 
tributes,  and  in  the  Rigsthula,  wherein  a  certain  Rig  appears 
as  the  ancestor  of  the  three  great  classes  of  men,  a  fourteenth 
century  annotator  identifies  Rig  with  Heimdall,  on  what  au¬ 
thority  we  do  not  know,  for  the  Rig  of  the  poem  seems  much 
more  like  Othin  (cf.  Rigsthula,  introductory  prose  and  note). 
Valfather  (“Father  of  the  Slain”)  :  Othin,  chief  of  the  gods,  so 
called  because  the  slain  warriors  were  brought  to  him  at  Val- 
hall  (“Hall  of  the  Slain”)  by  the  Valkyries  (“Choosers  of  the 
Slain”). 

2.  Nine  worlds :  the  worlds  of  the  gods  (Asgarth),  of  the 
Wanes  (Vanaheim,  cf.  stanza  21  and  note),  of  the  elves  (Alf- 
heim),  of  men  (Mithgarth),  of  the  giants  (Jotunheim),  of  fire 
(Muspellsheim,  cf.  stanza  47  and  note),  of  the  dark  elves 
(Svartalfaheim),  of  the  dead  (Niflheim),  and  presumably  of 
the  dwarfs  (perhaps  Nithavellir,  cf.  stanza  37  and  note,  but 
the  ninth  world  is  uncertain).  The  tree :  the  world-ash  Yggdrasil, 

[3] 


Poetic  Edda 


3.  Of  old  was  the  age 
Sea  nor  cool  waves 
Earth  had  not  been. 
But  a  yawning  gap, 


when  Ymir  lived; 
nor  sand  there  were ; 
nor  heaven  above, 
and  grass  nowhere. 


4.  Then  Bur’s  sons  lifted 
Mithgarth  the  mighty 
The  sun  from  the  south 

earth, 

And  green  was  the  ground 

5.  The  sun,  the  sister 
Her  right  hand  cast 
No  knowledge  she  had 
The  moon  knew  not 
The  stars  knew  not 


the  level  land, 
there  they  made; 

warmed  the  stones  of 

with  growing  leeks. 

of  the  moon,  from  the  south 
over  heaven’s  rim; 

where  her  home  should  be, 
what  might  was  his, 
where  their  stations  were. 


symbolizing  the  universe;  cf.  Grimnismol,  29-35  and  notes, 
wherein  Yggdrasil  is  described  at  length. 

3.  Ymir:  the  giant  out  of  whose  body  the  gods  made  the 
world;  cf.  V afthruthnismol,  21.  In  this  stanza  as  quoted  in 
Snorri’s  Edda  the  first  line  runs:  “Of  old  was  the  age  ere 
aught  there  was.”  Yawning  gap:  this  phrase,  “Ginnunga-gap,” 
is  sometimes  used  as  a  proper  name. 

4.  Bur's  sons:  Othin,  Vili,  and  Ve.  Of  Bur  we  know  only  that 
his  wife  was  Bestla,  daughter  of  Bolthorn ;  cf.  Hovamol,  141. 
Vili  and  Ve  are  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Eddie  poems  only  in 
Lokasenna,  26.  Mithgarth  (“Middle  Dwelling”)  :  the  world  of 
men.  Leeks:  the  leek  was  often  used  as  the  symbol  of  fine 
growth  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  17),  and  it  was  also  supposed  to 
have  magic  power  (cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  7). 

5.  Various  editors  have  regarded  this  stanza  as  interpolated; 
Hoffory  thinks  it  describes  the  northern  summer  night  in  which 
the  sun  does  not  set.  Lines  31-5  are  quoted  by  Snorri.  In  the 
manuscripts  line  4  follows  line  5.  Regarding  the  sun  and  moon 

C.4] 


Voluspo 

6.  Then  sought  the  gods  their  assembly-seats, 

The  holy  ones,  and  council  held; 

Names  then  gave  they  to  noon  and  twilight, 
Morning  they  named,  and  the  waning  moon, 
Night  and  evening,  the  years  to  number. 

7.  At  Ithavoll  met  the  mighty  gods, 

Shrines  and  temples  they  timbered  high ; 

Forges  they  set,  and  they  smithied  ore, 

Tongs  they  wrought,  and  tools  they  fashioned. 

8.  In  their  dwellings  at  peace  they  played  at  tables, 
Of  gold  no  lack  did  the  gods  then  know, — 
Till  thither  came  up  giant-maids  three, 

Huge  of  might,  out  of  Jotunheim. 


as  daughter  and  son  of  Mundilferi,  cf.  V  afthruthnismol ,  23  and 
note,  and  Grimnismol,  37  and  note. 

6.  Possibly  an  interpolation,  but  there  seems  no  strong  reason 
for  assuming  this.  Lines  1-2  are  identical  with  lines  1-2  of 
stanza  9,  and  line  2  may  have  been  inserted  here  from  that  later 
stanza. 

7.  Ithavoll  (“Field  of  Deeds”?):  mentioned  only  here  and 
in  stanza  60  as  the  meeting-place  of  the  gods;  it  appears  in  no 
other  connection. 

8.  Tables:  the  exact  nature  of  this  game,  and  whether  it 
more  closely  resembled  chess  or  checkers,  has  been  made  the 
subject  of  a  400-page  treatise,  Willard  Fiske’s  “Chess  in  Ice¬ 
land.”  Giant-maids :  perhaps  the  three  great  Norns,  correspond¬ 
ing  to  the  three  fates;  cf.  stanza  20  and  note.  Possibly,  however, 
something  has  been  lost  after  this  stanza,  and  the  missing 
passage,  replaced  by  the  catalogue  of  the  dwarfs  (stanzas  9-16), 
may  have  explained  the  “giant-maids”  otherwise  than  as  Norns. 
In  V afthruthnismol,  49,  the  Norns  (this  time  “three  throngs”  in¬ 
stead  of  simply  “three”)  are  spoken  of  as  giant-maidens; 

[5] 


Poetic  Edda 


9.  Then  sought  the  gods  their  assembly-seats, 
The  holy  ones,  and  council  held, 

To  find  who  should  raise  the  race  of  dwarfs 
Out  of  Brimir’s  blood  and  the  legs  of  Blain. 

10.  There  was  Motsognir  the  mightiest  made 
Of  all  the  dwarfs,  and  Durin  next; 

Many  a  likeness  of  men  they  made, 

The  dwarfs  in  the  earth,  as  Durin  said. 

11.  Nyi  and  Nithi,  Northri  and  Suthri, 

Austri  and  Vestri,  Althjof,  Dvalin, 

Nar  and  Nain,  Niping,  Dain, 

Bifur,  Bofur,  Bombur,  Nori, 

An  and  Onar,  Ai,  Mjothvitnir. 


Fafnismol,  13,  indicates  the  existence  of  many  lesser  Norns,  be¬ 
longing  to  various  races.  Jotunheim:  the  world  of  the  giants. 

9.  Here  apparently  begins  the  interpolated  catalogue  of  the 
dwarfs,  running  through  stanza  16;  possibly,  however,  the  in¬ 
terpolated  section  does  not  begin  before  stanza  n.  Snorri  quotes 
practically  the  entire  section,  the  names  appearing  in  a  some¬ 
what  changed  order.  Brimir  and  Blain :  nothing  is  known  of 
these  two  giants,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  both  are  names 
for  Ymir  (cf.  stanza  3).  Brimir,  however,  appears  in  stanza  37 
in  connection  with  the  home  of  the  dwarfs.  Some  editors  treat 
the  words  as  common  rather  than  proper  nouns,  Brimir  meaning 
;‘the  bloody  moisture”  and  Blain  being  of  uncertain  significance. 

10.  Very  few  of  the  dwarfs  named  in  this  and  the  following 
stanzas  are  mentioned  elsewhere.  It  is  not  clear  why  Durin 
should  have  been  singled  out  as  authority  for  the  list.  The  oc¬ 
casional  repetitions  suggest  that  not  all  the  stanzas  of  the  cata¬ 
logue  came  from  the  same  source.  Most  of  the  names  presumably 
had  some  definite  significance,  as  Northri,  Suthri,  Austri,  and 
Vestri  (“North,”  “South,”  “East,”  and  “West”),  Althjof 

[6] 


Voluspo 

12.  Vigg  and  Gandalf,  Vindalf,  Thrain, 

Thekk  and  Thorin,  Thror,  Vit  and  Lit, 

Nyr  and  Nyrath, —  now  have  I  told — 

Regin  and  Rathsvith —  the  list  aright. 

13.  Fili,  Kili,  Fundin,  Nali, 

Heptifili,  Flannar,  Sviur, 

Frar,  Hornbori,  Fræg  and  Loni, 

Aurvang,  Jari,  Eikinskjaldi. 

14.  The  race  of  the  dwarfs  in  Dvalin’s  throng 
Down  to  Lofar  the  list  must  I  tell ; 

The  rocks  they  left,  and  through  wet  lands 
They  sought  a  home  in  the  fields  of  sand. 

15.  There  were  Draupnir  and  Dolgthrasir, 

Hor,  Haugspori,  Hlevang,  Gloin, 

(“Mighty  Thief”),  Mjothvitnir  (“Mead-Wolf”),  Gandalf 
(“Magic  Elf”),  Vindalf  (“Wind  Elf”),  Rathsvith  (“Swift  in 
Counsel”),  Eikinskjaldi  (“Oak  Shield”),  etc.,  but  in  many  cases 
the  interpretations  are  sheer  guesswork. 

12.  The  order  of  the  lines  in  this  and  the  succeeding  four 
stanzas  varies  greatly  in  the  manuscripts  and  editions,  and  the 
names  likewise  appear  in  many  forms.  Regin :  probably  not 
identical  with  Regin  the  son  of  Hreithmar,  who  plays  an  im¬ 
portant  part  in  the  Reginsmol  and  Fafnismol,  but  cf.  note  on 
Reginsmol,  introductory  prose. 

14.  Dvalin:  in  Hovamol,  144,  Dvalin  seems  to  have  given 
magic  runes  to  the  dwarfs,  probably  accounting  for  their  skill 
in  craftsmanship,  while  in  Fafnismol,  13,  he  is  mentioned  as 
the  father  of  some  of  the  lesser  Norns.  The  story  that  some  of 
the  dwarfs  left  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  find  a  new  home  on 
the  sands  is  mentioned,  but  unexplained,  in  Snorri’s  Edda;  of 
Lofar  we  know  only  that  he  was  descended  from  these  wanderers. 

[7] 


Poetic  Edda 


Dori,  Ori,  Duf,  Andvari, 

Skirfir,  Virfir,  Skafith,  Ai. 

16.  Alf  and  Yngvi,  Eikinskjaldi, 

Fjalar  and  Frosti,  Fith  and  Ginnar; 

So  for  all  time  shall  the  tale  be  known, 
The  list  of  all  the  forbears  of  Lofar. 


17.  Then  from  the  throng  did  three  come  forth, 
From  the  home  of  the  gods,  the  mighty  and 
gracious ; 


Two  without  fate 
Ask  and  Embla, 

18.  Soul  they  had  not, 
Heat  nor  motion, 
Soul  gave  Othin, 
Heat  gave  Lothur 


on  the  land  they  found, 
empty  of  might. 

sense  they  had  not, 
nor  goodly  hue ; 
sense  gave  Hönir, 
and  goodly  hue. 


15.  Andvari :  this  dwarf  appears  prominently  in  the  Regins- 
rnol,  which  tells  how  the  god  Loki  treacherously  robbed  him  of 
his  wealth;  the  curse  which  he  laid  on  his  treasure  brought  about 
the  deaths  of  Sigurth,  Gunnar,  Atli,  and  many  others. 

17.  Here  the  poem  resumes  its  course  after  the  interpolated 
section.  Probably,  however,  something  has  been  lost,  for  there  is 
no  apparent  connection  between  the  three  giant-maids  of  stanza 
8  and  the  three  gods,  Othin,  Hönir  and  Lothur,  who  in  stanza  17 
go  forth  to  create  man  and  woman.  The  word  “three”  in  stanzas 
8  and  17  very  likely  confused  some  early  reciter,  or  perhaps  the 
compiler  himself.  Ask  and  Embla:  ash  and  elm;  Snorri  gives 
them  simply  as  the  names  of  the  first  man  and  woman,  but  says 
that  the  gods  made  this  pair  out  of  trees. 

18.  Hönir :  little  is  known  of  this  god,  save  that  he  occasion¬ 
ally  appears  in  the  poems  in  company  with  Othin  and  Loki,  and 

[8] 


Voluspo 

19.  An  ash  I  know,  Yggdrasil  its  name, 

With  water  white  is  the  great  tree  wet; 

Thence  come  the  dews  that  fall  in  the  dales, 
Green  by  Urth’s  well  does  it  ever  grow. 

20.  Thence  come  the  maidens  mighty  in  wisdom, 
Three  from  the  dwelling  down  ’neath  the  tree; 
Urth  is  one  named,  Verthandi  the  next, — 

On  the  wood  they  scored, —  and  Skuld  the  third. 

Laws  they  made  there,  and  life  allotted 
To  the  sons  of  men,  and  set  their  fates. 


that  he  survives  the  destruction,  assuming  in  the  new  age  the 
gift  of  prophesy  (cf.  stanza  63).  He  was  given  by  the  gods  as  a 
hostage  to  the  Wanes  after  their  war,  in  exchange  for  Njorth 
(cf.  stanza  21  and  note).  Lothur'.  apparently  an  older  name 
for  Loki,  the  treacherous  but  ingenious  son  of  Laufey,  whose 
divinity  Snorri  regards  as  somewhat  doubtful.  He  was  adopted 
by  Othin,  who  subsequently  had  good  reason  to  regret  it.  Loki 
probably  represents  the  blending  of  two  originally  distinct 
figures,  one  of  them  an  old  fire-god,  hence  his  gift  of  heat  to  the 
newly  created  pair. 

19.  Y ggdrasil:  cf.  stanza  2  and  note,  and  Grimnismol ,  29-35 
and  notes.  Urih  (“The  Past”)  :  one  of  the  three  great  Norns. 
The  world-ash  is  kept  green  by  being  sprinkled  with  the  mar¬ 
velous  healing  water  from  her  well. 

20.  The  maidens :  the  three  Norns;  possibly  this  stanza 
should  follow  stanza  8.  Dwelling :  Regius  has  “sæ”  (sea)  instead 
of  “sal”  (hall,  home),  and  many  editors  have  followed  this 
reading,  although  Snorri’s  prose  paraphrase  indicates  “sal.” 
Urth,  Verthandi  and  Skuld:  “Past,”  “Present”  and  “Future.” 
Wood,  etc.:  the  magic  signs  (runes)  controlling  the  destinies  of 
men  were  cut  on  pieces  of  wood.  Lines  3-4  are  probably  inter¬ 
polations  from  some  other  account  of  the  Norns. 

[9] 


Poetic  Edda 


21.  The  war  I  remember,  the  first  in  the  world, 
When  the  gods  with  spears  had  smitten  Gollveig, 
And  in  the  hall  of  Hor  had  burned  her, — 
Three  times  burned,  and  three  times  born, 

Oft  and  again,  yet  ever  she  lives. 

22.  Heith  they  named  her  who  sought  their  home, 
The  wide-seeing  witch,  in  magic  wise ; 

Minds  she  bewitched  that  were  moved  by  her 
magic, 

To  evil  women  a  joy  she  was. 


21.  This  follows  stanza  20  in  Regius ;  in  the  Hauksbok  version 
stanzas  25,  26,  27,  40  and  41  come  between  stanzas  20  and  21. 
Editors  have  attempted  all  sorts  of  rearrangements.  The  war: 
the  first  war  was  that  between  the  gods  and  the  Wanes.  The 
cult  of  the  Wanes  (Vanir)  seems  to  have  originated  among  the 
seafaring  folk  of  the  Baltic  and  the  southern  shores  of  the  North 
Sea,  and  to  have  spread  thence  into  Norway  in  opposition  to  the 
worship  of  the  older  gods;  hence  the  “war.”  Finally  the  two 
types  of  divinities  were  worshipped  in  common;  hence  the 
treaty  which  ended  the  war  with  the  exchange  of  hostages. 
Chief  among  the  Wanes  were  Njorth  and  his  children,  Freyr  and 
Freyja,  all  of  whom  became  conspicuous  among  the  gods.  Be¬ 
yond  this  we  know  little  of  the  Wanes,  who  seem  originally  to 
have  been  water-deities.  /  remember:  the  manuscripts  have  “she 
remembers,”  but  the  Volva  is  apparently  still  speaking  of  her 
own  memories,  as  in  stanza  2.  Gollveig  (“Gold-Might”)  :  appar¬ 
ently  the  first  of  the  Wanes  to  come  among  the  gods,  her  ill- 
treatment  being  the  immediate  cause  of  the  war.  Mullenhoff 
maintains  that  Gollveig  is  another  name  for  Freyia.  Lines  5-6, 
one  or  both  of  them  probably  interpolated,  seem  to  symbolize  the 
refining  of  gold  by  fire.  Hor  (“The  High  One”)  :  Othin. 

22.  Heith  (“Shining  One”?):  a  name  often  applied  to  wise- 
women  and  prophetesses.  The  application  of  this  stanza  to 
Gollveig  is  far  from  clear,  though  the  reference  may  be  to  the 

[10] 


Voluspo 

23.  On  the  host  his  spear  did  Othin  hurl, 

Then  in  the  world  did  war  first  come ; 

The  wall  that  girdled  the  gods  was  broken, 

And  the  field  by  the  warlike  Wanes  was  trodden. 

24.  Then  sought  the  gods  their  assembly-seats, 

The  holy  ones,  and  council  held, 

Whether  the  gods  should  tribute  give, 

Or  to  all  alike  should  worship  belong. 

25.  Then  sought  the  gods  their  assembly-seats, 

The  holy  ones,  and  council  held, 

To  find  who  with  venom  the  air  had  filled, 

Or  had  given  Oth’s  bride  to  the  giants’  brood. 

magic  and  destructive  power  of  gold.  It  is  also  possible  that 
the  stanza  is  an  interpolation.  Bugge  maintains  that  it  applies  to 
the  Volva  who  is  reciting  the  poem,  and  makes  it  the  opening 
stanza,  following  it  with  stanzas  28  and  30,  and  then  going  on 
with  stanzas  1  ff.  The  text  of  line  2  is  obscure,  and  has  been 
variously  emended. 

23.  This  stanza  and  stanza  24  have  been  transposed  from  the 
order  in  the  manuscripts,  for  the  former  describes  the  battle  and 
the  victory  of  the  Wanes,  after  which  the  gods  took  council,  de¬ 
bating  whether  to  pay  tribute  to  the  victors,  or  to  admit  them, 
as  was  finally  done,  to  equal  rights  of  worship. 

25.  Possibly,  as  Finn  Magnusen  long  ago  suggested,  there  is 
something  lost  after  stanza  24,  but  it  was  not  the  custom  of  the 
Eddie  poets  to  supply  transitions  which  their  hearers  could 
generally  be  counted  on  to  understand.  The  story  referred  to 
in  stanzas  25-26  (both  quoted  by  Snorri)  is  that  of  the  rebuild¬ 
ing  of  Asgarth  after  its  destruction  by  the  Wanes.  The  gods  em¬ 
ployed  a  giant  as  builder,  who  demanded  as  his  reward  the  sun 
and  moon,  and  the  goddess  Freyja  for  his  wife.  The  gods,  ter¬ 
rified  by  the  rapid  progress  of  the  work,  forced  Loki,  who  had 
advised  the  bargain,  to  delay  the  giant  by  a  trick,  so  that  the 

[11] 


Poetic  Edda 


26.  In  swelling  rage  then  rose  up  Thor, — 

Seldom  he  sits  when  he  such  things  hears, — 

And  the  oaths  were  broken,  the  words  and  bonds, 
The  mighty  pledges  between  them  made. 

27.  I  know  of  the  horn  of  Heimdall,  hidden 
Under  the  high-reaching  holy  tree; 

On  it  there  pours  from  Valfather’s  pledge 
A  mighty  stream:  would  you  know  yet  more? 

work  was  not  finished  in  the  stipulated  time  (cf.  Grimntsmol,  44, 
note).  The  enraged  giant  then  threatened  the  gods,  whereupon 
Thor  slew  him.  Oth’s  bride :  Freyja;  of  Oth  little  is  known  be¬ 
yond  the  fact  that  Snorri  refers  to  him  as  a  man  who  “went 
away  on  long  journeys.” 

26.  Thor :  the  thunder-god,  son  of  Othin  and  Jorth  (Earth)  ; 
cf.  particularly  Harbarthsljoth  and  Thrymskvitha,  passim.  Oaths, 
etc.:  the  gods,  by  violating  their  oaths  to  the  giant  who  rebuilt 
Asgarth,  aroused  the  undying  hatred  of  the  giants’  race,  and 
thus  the  giants  were  among  their  enemies  in  the  final  battle. 

27.  Here  the  Volva  turns  from  her  memories  of  the  past  to  a 
statement  of  some  of  Othin’s  own  secrets  in  his  eternal  search  for 
knowledge  (stanzas  27-29).  Bugge  puts  this  stanza  after  stanza 
29.  The  horn  of  Heimdall :  the  Gjallarhorn  (“Shrieking  Horn”), 
with  which  Heimdall,  watchman  of  the  gods,  will  summon  them 
to  the  last  battle.  Till  that  time  the  horn  is  buried  under 
Yggdrasil.  Valfather’s  pledge:  Othin’s  eye  (the  sun?),  which 
he  gave  to  the  water-spirit  Mimir  (or  Mim)  in  exchange  for 
the  latter’s  wisdom.  It  appears  here  and  in  stanza  29  as  a  drink¬ 
ing-vessel,  from  which  Mimir  drinks  the  magic  mead,  and  from 
which  he  pours  water  on  the  ash  Yggdrasil.  Othin’s  sacrifice  of 
his  eye  in  order  to  gain  knowledge  of  his  final  doom  is  one 
of  the  series  of  disasters  leading  up  to  the  destruction  of  the 
gods.  There  were  several  differing  versions  of  the  story  of 
Othin’s  relations  with  Mimir;  another  one,  quite  incompatible 
with  this,  appears  in  stanza  47.  In  the  manuscripts  I  know  and 
I  see  appear  as  “she  knows”  and  “she  sees”  (cf.  note  on  21). 

[12] 


Voluspo 

28.  Alone  I  sat  when  the  Old  One  sought  me, 

The  terror  of  gods,  and  gazed  in  mine  eyes: 
“What  hast  thou  to  ask  ?  why  comest  thou  hither  ? 
Othin,  I  know  where  thine  eye  is  hidden.” 

29.  I  know  where  Othin’s  eye  is  hidden, 

Deep  in  the  wide-famed  well  of  Mimir; 

Mead  from  the  pledge  of  Othin  each  morn 
Does  Mimir  drink:  would  you  know  yet  more? 

30.  Necklaces  had  I  and  rings  from  Heerfather, 
Wise  was  my  speech  and  my  magic  wisdom ; 

Widely  I  saw  over  all  the  worlds. 


28.  The  Hauksbok  version  omits  all  of  stanzas  28-34,  stanza 
27  being  there  followed  by  stanzas  40  and  41.  Regius  indicates 
stanzas  28  and  29  as  a  single  stanza.  Bugge  puts  stanza  28  after 
stanza  22,  as  the  second  stanza  of  his  reconstructed  poem.  The 
Volva  here  addresses  Othin  directly,  intimating  that,  although 
he  has  not  told  her,  she  knows  why  he  has  come  to  her,  and 
what  he  has  already  suifered  in  his  search  for  knowledge  re¬ 
garding  his  doom.  Her  reiterated  “would  you  know  yet  more?” 
seems  to  mean:  “I  have  proved  my  wisdom  by  telling  of  the 
past  and  of  your  own  secrets;  is  it  your  will  that  I  tell  likewise 
of  the  fate  in  store  for  you?”  The  Old  One:  Othin. 

29.  The  first  line,  not  in  either  manuscript,  is  a  conjectural 
emendation  based  on  Snorri’s  paraphrase.  Bugge  puts  this  stanza 
after  stanza  20. 

30.  This  is  apparently  the  transitional  stanza,  in  which  the 
Volva,  rewarded  by  Othin  for  her  knowledge  of  the  past  (stanzas 
1-29),  is  induced  to  proceed  with  her  real  prophecy  (stanzas 
31-66).  Some  editors  turn  the  stanza  into  the  third  person, 
making  it  a  narrative  link.  Bugge,  on  the  other  hand,  puts  it 

[13] 


Poetic  Edda 


31.  On  all  sides  saw  I  Valkyries  assemble, 
Ready  to  ride  to  the  ranks  of  the  gods; 
Skuld  bore  the  shield,  and  Skogul  rode  next, 
Guth,  Hild,  Gondul,  and  Geirskogul. 

Of  Herjan’s  maidens  the  list  have  ye  heard, 
Valkyries  ready  to  ride  o’er  the  earth. 

32.  I  saw  for  Baldr,  the  bleeding  god, 

The  son  of  Othin,  his  destiny  set: 


after  stanza  28  as  the  third  stanza  of  the  poem.  No  lacuna  is 
indicated  in  the  manuscripts,  and  editors  have  attempted  various 
emendations.  Heerfather  (“Father  of  the  Host”) :  Othin. 

31.  Valkyries :  these  “Choosers  of  the  Slain”  (cf.  stanza  1, 
note)  bring  the  bravest  warriors  killed  in  battle  to  Valhall,  in 
order  to  re-enforce  the  gods  for  their  final  struggle.  They  are 
also  called  “Wish-Maidens,”  as  the  fulfillers  of  Othin’s  wishes. 
The  conception  of  the  supernatural  warrior-maiden  was  pre¬ 
sumably  brought  to  Scandinavia  in  very  early  times  from  the 
South-Germanic  races,  and  later  it  was  interwoven  with  the 
likewise  South-Germanic  tradition  of  the  swan-maiden.  A  third 
complication  developed  when  the  originally  quite  human  women 
of  the  hero-legends  were  endowed  with  the  qualities  of  both 
Valkyries  and  swan-maidens,  as  in  the  cases  of  Brynhild  (cf. 
Gripisspo,  introductory  note),  Svava  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjor- 
'varthssonar,  prose  after  stanza  5  and  note)  and  Sigrun  (cf. 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  17  and  note).  The  list  of  names 
here  given  may  be  an  interpolation;  a  quite  different  list  is 
given  in  Grimnismol,  36.  Ranks  of  the  gods:  some  editors  regard 
the  word  thus  translated  as  a  specific  place  name.  Herjan 
(“Leader  of  Hosts”)  :  Othin.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  name 
Hild  (“Warrior”)  is  the  basis  of  Bryn-hild  (“Warrior  in  Mail- 
Coat”). 

32.  Baldr:  The  death  of  Baldr,  the  son  of  Othin  and  Frigg, 
was  the  first  of  the  great  disasters  to  the  gods.  The  story  is  fully 
told  by  Snorri.  Frigg  had  demanded  of  all  created  things,  saving 
only  the  mistletoe,  which  she  thought  too  weak  to  be  worth  trou- 

[14] 


Voluspo 

Famous  and  fair  in  the  lofty  fields, 

Full  grown  in  strength  the  mistletoe  stood. 

33.  From  the  branch  which  seemed  so  slender  and 

fair 

Came  a  harmful  shaft  that  Hoth  should  hurl; 
But  the  brother  of  Baldr  was  born  ere  long, 

And  one  night  old  fought  Othin’s  son. 

34.  His  hands  he  washed  not,  his  hair  he  combed  not, 
Till  he  bore  to  the  bale-blaze  Baldr’s  foe. 

But  in  Fensalir  did  Frigg  weep  sore 

For  Valhall’s  need:  would  you  know  yet  more? 

35.  One  did  I  see  in  the  wet  woods  bound, 

A  lover  of  ill,  and  to  Loki  like ; 


bling  about,  an  oath  that  they  would  not  harm  Baldr.  Thus  it 
came  to  be  a  sport  for  the  gods  to  hurl  weapons  at  Baldr,  who, 
of  course,  was  totally  unharmed  thereby.  Loki,  the  trouble-maker, 
brought  the  mistletoe  to  Baldr’s  blind  brother,  Hoth,  and  guided 
his  hand  in  hurling  the  twig.  Baldr  was  slain,  and  grief  came 
upon  all  the  gods.  Cf.  Baldrs  Draumar. 

33.  The  lines  in  this  and  the  following  stanza  have  been 
combined  in  various  ways  by  editors,  lacunae  having  been  freely 
conjectured,  but  the  manuscript  version  seems  clear  enough. 
The  brother  of  Baldr:  Vali,  whom  Othin  begot  expressly  to 
avenge  Baldr’s  death.  The  day  after  his  birth  he  fought  and  slew 
Hoth. 

34.  Frigg:  Othin’s  wife.  Some  scholars  have  regarded  her  as 
a  solar  myth,  calling  her  the  sun-goddess,  and  pointing  out  that 
her  home  in  Fensalir  (“the  sea-halls”)  symbolizes  the  daily 
setting  of  the  sun  beneath  the  ocean  horizon. 

35.  The  translation  here  follows  the  Regius  version.  The 
Hauksbok  has  the  same  final  two  lines,  but  in  place  of  the  first 

[15] 


Poetic  Edda 


By  his  side  does  Sigyn  sit,  nor  is  glad 
To  see  her  mate:  would  you  know  yet  more? 

36.  From  the  east  there  pours  through  poisoned  vales 
With  swords  and  daggers  the  river  Slith. 


37.  Northward  a  hall  in  Nithavellir 
Of  gold  there  rose  for  Sindri’s  race; 

And  in  Okolnir  another  stood, 

Where  the  giant  Brimir  his  beer-hall  had. 


pair  has,  “I  know  that  Vali  his  brother  gnawed,  /  With  his 
bowels  then  was  Loki  bound.”  Many  editors  have  followed 
this  version  of  the  whole  stanza  or  have  included  these  two 
lines,  often  marking  them  as  doubtful,  with  the  four  from 
Regius.  After  the  murder  of  Baldr,  the  gods  took  Loki  and  bound 
him  to  a  rock  with  the  bowels  of  his  son  Narfi,  who  had  just 
been  torn  to  pieces  by  Loki’s  other  son,  Vali.  A  serpent  wras 
fastened  above  Loki’s  head,  and  the  venom  fell  upon  his  face. 
Loki’s  wife,  Sigyn,  sat  by  him  with  a  basin  to  catch  the  venom, 
but  whenever  the  basin  was  full,  and  she  went  away  to  empty  it, 
then  the  venom  fell  on  Loki  again,  till  the  earth  shook  with  his 
struggles.  “And  there  he  lies  bound  till  the  end.”  Cf.  Lokasenna, 
concluding  prose. 

36.  Stanzas  36-39  describe  the  homes  of  the  enemies  of  the 
gods:  the  giants  (36),  the  dwarfs  (37),  and  the  dead  in  the 
land  of  the  goddess  Hel  (38-39).  The  Hauksbok  version  omits 
stanzas  36  and  37.  Regius  unites  36  with  37,  but  most  editors 
have  assumed  a  lacuna.  Slith  (“the  Fearful”)  :  a  river  in  the 
giants’  home.  The  “swords  and  daggers”  may  represent  the  icy 
cold. 

37.  Nithavellir  (“the  Dark  Fields”)  :  a  home  of  the  dwarfs. 
Perhaps  the  word  should  be  “Nithafjoll”  (“the  Dark  Crags”). 
Sindri:  the  great  worker  in  gold  among  the  dwarfs.  Okolnir 

[16] 


Voluspo 

38.  A  hall  I  saw,  far  from  the  sun, 

On  Nastrond  it  stands,  and  the  doors  face  north; 
Venom  drops  through  the  smoke-vent  down, 

For  around  the  walls  do  serpents  wind. 

39.  I  saw  there  wading  through  rivers  wild 
Treacherous  men  and  murderers  too, 

And  workers  of  ill  with  the  wives  of  men ; 

There  Nithhogg  sucked  the  blood  of  the  slain, 
And  the  wolf  tore  men;  would  you  know  yet 

more  ? 


(“the  Not  Cold”)  :  possibly  a  volcano.  Brimir:  the  giant  (pos¬ 
sibly  Ymir)  out  of  whose  blood,  according  to  stanza  9,  the 
dwarfs  were  made;  the  name  here  appears  to  mean  simply  the 
leader  of  the  dwarfs. 

38.  Stanzas  38  and  39  follow  stanza  43  in  the  Hauksbok  ver¬ 
sion.  Snorri  quotes  stanzas  38,  39,  40  and  41,  though  not  consecu¬ 
tively.  Nastrond  (“Corpse-Strand”)  :  the  land  of  the  dead,  ruled 
by  the  goddess  Hel.  Here  the  wicked  undergo  tortures.  Smoke- 
vent:  the  phrase  gives  a  picture  of  the  Icelandic  house,  with  its 
opening  in  the  roof  serving  instead  of  a  chimney. 

39.  The  stanza  is  almost  certainly  in  corrupt  form.  The 
third  line  is  presumably  an  interpolation,  and  is  lacking  in  most 
of  the  late  paper  manuscripts.  Some  editors,  h'owever,  have 
called  lines  1-3  the  remains  of  a  full  stanza,  with  the  fourth 
line  lacking,  and  lines  4-5  the  remains  of  another.  The  stanza 
depicts  the  torments  of  the  two  worst  classes  of  criminals  known 
to  Old  Norse  morality — oath-breakers  and  murderers.  N’ltlihogg 
(“the  Dread  Biter”)  :  the  dragon  that  lies  beneath  the  ash 
Yggdrasil  and  gnaws  at  its  roots,  thus  symbolizing  the  destruc¬ 
tive  elements  in  the  universe;  cf.  Grimnismol,  32,  35.  The  wolf: 
presumably  the  wolf  Fenrir,  one  of  the  children  of  Loki  and  the 
giantess  Angrbotha  (the  others  being  Mithgarthsorm  and  the 
goddess  Hel),  who  was  chained  by  the  gods  with  the  marvelous 
chain  Gleipnir,  fashioned  by  a  dwarf  “out  of  six  things:  the 

117] 


Poetic  Edda 


40.  The  giantess  old  in  Ironwood  sat, 

In  the  east,  and  bore  the  brood  of  Fenrir; 
Among  these  one  in  monster’s  guise 
Was  soon  to  steal  the  sun  from  the  sky. 

41.  There  feeds  he  full  on  the  flesh  of  the  dead, 

And  the  home  of  the  gods  he  reddens  with  gore ; 
Dark  grows  the  sun,  and  in  summer  soon 
Come  mighty  storms:  would  you  know  yet  more? 


42.  On  a  hill  there  sat,  and  smote  on  his  harp, 
Eggther  the  joyous,  the  giants’  warder; 
Above  him  the  cock  in  the  bird-wood  crowed, 
Fair  and  red  did  Fjalar  stand. 


noise  of  a  cat’s  step,  the  beards  of  women,  the  roots  of  mountains, 
the  nerves  of  bears,  the  breath  of  fishes,  and  the  spittle  of  birds.” 
The  chaining  of  Fenrir  cost  the  god  Tyr  his  right  hand;  cf. 
stanza  44. 

40.  The  Hauksbok  version  inserts  after  stanza  39  the  refrain- 
stanza  (44),  and  puts  stanzas  40  and  41  between  27  and  21. 
With  this  stanza  begins  the  account  of  the  final  struggle  itself. 
The  giantess:  her  name  is  nowhere  stated,  and  the  only  other 
reference  to  Ironwood  is  in  Grimnismoi,  39,  in  this  same  con¬ 
nection.  The  children  of  this  giantess  and  the  wolf  Fenrir  are 
the  wolves  Skoll  and  Ilati,  the  first  of  whom  steals  the  sun,  the 
second  the  moon.  Some  scholars  naturally  see  here  an  eclipse- 
myth. 

41.  In  the  third  line  many  editors  omit  the  comma  after 
“sun,”  and  put  one  after  “soon,”  making  the  two  lines  run: 
“Dark  grows  the  sun  in  summer  soon,  /  Mighty  storms  — ” 
etc.  Either  phenomenon  in  summer  would  be  sufficiently  striking. 

42.  In  the  Hauksbok  version  stanzas  42  and  43  stand  between 
stanzas  44  and  38.  Eggther:  this  giant,  who  seems  to  be  the 
w7atchman  of  the  giants,  as  Heimdall  is  that  of  the  gods  and  Surt 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  fire-world,  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in 

[18] 


Voluspo 

43.  Then  to  the  gods  crowed  Gollinkambi, 

He  wakes  the  heroes  in  Othin’s  hall; 

And  beneath  the  earth  does  another  crow, 
The  rust-red  bird  at  the  bars  of  Hel. 

44.  Now  Garm  howls  loud  before  Gnipahellir, 
The  fetters  will  burst,  and  the  wolf  run  free ; 
Much  do  I  know,  and  more  can  see 

Of  the  fate  of  the  gods,  the  mighty  in  fight. 

45.  Brothers  shall  fight  and  fell  each  other, 

And  sisters’  sons  shall  kinship  stain; 


the  poems.  Fjalar,  the  cock  whose  crowing  wakes  the  giants  for 
the  final  struggle. 

43.  Gollinkambi  (“Gold-Comb”)  :  the  cock  who  wakes  the  gods 
and  heroes,  as  Fjalar  does  the  giants.  The  rust-red  bird:  the 
name  of  this  bird,  who  wakes  the  people  of  Hel’s  domain,  is 
nowhere  stated. 

44.  This  is  a  refrain-stanza.  In  Regius  it  appears  in  full 
only  at  this  point,  but  is  repeated  in  abbreviated  form  before 
stanzas  50  and  59.  In  the  Hauksbok  version  the  full  stanza  comes 
first  between  stanzas  35  and  42,  then,  in  abbreviated  form,  it 
occurs  four  times:  before  stanzas  45,  50,  55,  and  59.  In  the 
Hauksbok  line  3  runs:  “Farther  I  see  and  more  can  say.” 
Garm:  the  dog  who  guards  the  gates  of  Hel’s  kingdom;  cf. 
Baldrs  Draumar,  2  ff,  and  Grimnismol,  44.  Gniparhellir  (“the 
Cliff-Cave”)  :  the  entrance  to  the  world  of  the  dead.  The  wolf : 
Fenrir;  cf.  stanza  39  and  note. 

45.  From  this  point  on  through  stanza  57  the  poem  is  quoted 
by  Snorri,  stanza  49  alone  being  omitted.  There  has  been  much 
discussion  as  to  the  status  of  stanza  45.  Lines  4  and  5  look  like 
an  interpolation.  After  line  5  the  Hauksbok  has  a  line  running: 
“The  world  resounds,  the  witch  is  flying.”  Editors  have 
arranged  these  seven  lines  in  various  ways,  with  lacunae  freely 
indicated.  Sisters’  sons:  in  all  Germanic  countries  the  relations 
between  uncle  and  nephew  were  felt  to  be  particularly  close. 

[19] 


Poetic  Edda 


Hard  is  it  on  earth, 
Axe-time,  sword-time, 
Wind-time,  wolf-time, 
Nor  ever  shall  men 


with  mighty  whoredom; 
shields  are  sundered, 
ere  the  world  falls; 
each  other  spare. 


46.  Fast  move  the  sons  of  Mim,  and  fate 
Is  heard  in  the  note  of  the  Gjallarhorn; 

Loud  blows  Heimdall,  the  horn  is  aloft, 

In  fear  quake  all  who  on  Hel-roads  are. 

47.  Yggdrasil  shakes,  and  shiver  on  high 
The  ancient  limbs,  and  the  giant  is  loose ; 

To  the  head  of  Mim  does  Othin  give  heed, 
But  the  kinsman  of  Surt  shall  slay  him  soon. 


46.  Regius  combines  the  first  three  lines  of  this  stanza  with 
lines  3,  2,  and  1  of  stanza  47  as  a  single  stanza.  Line  4,  not  found 
in  Regius,  is  introduced  from  the  Hauksbok  version,  where  it 
follows  line  2  of  stanza  47.  The  sons  of  Mim:  the  spirits  of  the 
water.  On  Mim  (or  Mimir)  cf.  stanza  27  and  note.  Gjallarhorn: 
the  “Shrieking  Horn”  with  which  Heimdall,  the  watchman  of 
the  gods,  calls  them  to  the  last  battle. 

47.  In  Regius  lines  3,  2,  and  1,  in  that  order,  follow  stanza  46 
without  separation.  Line  4  is  not  found  in  Regius,  but  is  intro¬ 
duced  from  the  Hauksbok  version.  Yggdrasil:  cf.  stanza  19  and 
note,  and  Grimnismol,  29-35.  The  giant:  Fenrir.  The  head  of 
Mim:  various  myths  were  current  about  Mimir.  This  stanza 
refers  to  the  story  that  he  was  sent  by  the  gods  with  Hönir  as  a 
hostage  to  the  Wanes  after  their  war  (cf.  stanza  21  and  note), 
and  that  the  Wanes  cut  off  his  head  and  returned  it  to  the  gods. 
Othin  embalmed  the  head,  and  by  magic  gave  it  the  power  of 
speech,  thus  making  Mimir’s  noted  wisdom  always  available.  Of 
course  this  story  does  not  fit  with  that  underlying  the  references 
to  Mimir  in  stanzas  27  and  29.  The  kinsman  of  Surt:  the  wolf 

[20] 


Voluspo 

48.  How  fare  the  gods?  how  fare  the  elves? 

All  Jotunheim  groans,  the  gods  are  at  council; 

Loud  roar  the  dwarfs  by  the  doors  of  stone, 

The  masters  of  the  rocks:  would  you  know  yet 

more? 

49.  Now  Garm  howls  loud  before  Gnipahellir, 

The  fetters  will  burst,  and  the  wolf  run  free ; 
Much  do  I  know,  and  more  can  see 

Of  the  fate  of  the  gods,  the  mighty  in  fight. 


50.  From  the  east  comes  Hrym  with  shield  held  high ; 
In  giant-wrath  does  the  serpent  writhe ; 

O’er  the  waves  he  twists,  and  the  tawny  eagle 
Gnaws  corpses  screaming;  Naglfar  is  loose. 


Fenrir,  who  slays  Othin  in  the  final  struggle;  cf.  stanza  53. 
Surt  is  the  giant  who  rules  the  fire-world,  Muspellsheim ;  cf. 
stanza  52. 

48.  This  stanza  in  Regius  follows  stanza  51;  in  the  Hauksbok 
it  stands,  as  here,  after  47.  Jotunheim:  the  land  of  the  giants. 

49.  Identical  with  stanza  44.  In  the  manuscripts  it  is  here 
abbreviated. 

50.  Hrym:  the  leader  of  the  giants,  who  comes  as  the  helms¬ 
man  of  the  ship  Naglfar  (line  4).  The  serpent:  Mithgarthsorm, 
one  of  the  children  of  Loki  and  Angrbotha  (cf.  stanza  39,  note). 
The  serpent  was  cast  into  the  sea,  where  he  completely  encircles 
the  land;  cf.  especially  Hymiskvitha,  passim.  The  eagle:  the 
giant  Hræsvelg,  who  sits  at  the  edge  of  heaven  in  the  form  of 
an  eagle,  and  makes  the  winds  with  his  wings;  cf.  V afthruthnis- 
mol,  37,  and  Skirnismol,  27.  Naglfar:  the  ship  which  was  made 
out  of  dead  men’s  nails  to  carry  the  giants  to  battle. 

[21] 


Poetic  Edda 


51.  O’er  the  sea  from  the  north  there  sails  a  ship 
With  the  people  of  Hel,  at  the  helm  stands  Loki  ; 
After  the  wolf  do  wild  men  follow, 

And  with  them  the  brother  of  Byleist  goes. 

52.  Surt  fares  from  the  south  with  the  scourge  of 

branches, 

The  sun  of  the  battle-gods  shone  from  his  sword ; 
The  crags  are  sundered,  the  giant-women  sink, 
The  dead  throng  Hel-way,  and  heaven  is  cloven. 

53.  Now  comes  to  Hlin  yet  another  hurt, 

When  Othin  fares  to  fight  with  the  wolf, 

And  Beli’s  fair  slayer  seeks  out  Surt, 

For  there  must  fall  the  joy  of  Frigg. 


51.  North:  a  guess;  the  manuscripts  have  “east,”  but  there 
seems  to  be  a  confusion  with  stanza  50,  line  1.  People  of  Hel: 
the  manuscripts  have  “people  of  Muspell,”  but  these  came  over 
the  bridge  Bifrost  (the  rainbow),  which  broke  beneath  them, 
whereas  the  people  of  Hel  came  in  a  ship  steered  by  Loki.  The 
wolf:  Fenrir.  The  brother  of  Byleist:  Loki.  Of  Byleist  (or 
Byleipt)  no  more  is  known. 

52.  Surt:  the  ruler  of  the  fire-world.  The  scourge  of  branches: 
fire.  This  is  one  of  the  relatively  rare  instances  in  the  Eddie 
poems  of  the  type  of  poetic  diction  which  characterizes  the  skaldic 
verse. 

53.  Hlin:  apparently  another  name  for  Frigg,  Othin’s  wife. 
After  losing  her  son  Baldr,  she  is  fated  now  to  see  Othin  slain  by 
the  wolf  Fenrir.  Beli’s  slayer:  the  god  Freyr,  who  killed  the 
giant  Beli  with  his  fist;  cf.  Skirnismol,  16  and  note.  On  Freyr, 
who  belonged  to  the  race  of  the  Wanes,  and  was  the  brother  of 
Freyja,  see  especially  Skirnismol ,  passim.  The  joy  of  Frigg: 
Othin. 


[22] 


Voluspo 

54.  Then  comes  Sigfather’s  mighty  son, 

Vithar,  to  fight  with  the  foaming  wolf; 

In  the  giant’s  son  does  he  thrust  his  sword 
Full  to  the  heart:  his  father  is  avenged. 

55.  Hither  there  comes  the  son  of  Hlothyn, 

The  bright  snake  gapes  to  heaven  above; 

Against  the  serpent  goes  Othin’s  son. 

56.  In  anger  smites  the  warder  of  earth, — 

Forth  from  their  homes  must  all  men  flee; — 
Nine  paces  fares  the  son  of  Fjorgyn, 

And,  slain  by  the  serpent,  fearless  he  sinks. 


54.  As  quoted  by  Snorri  the  first  line  of  this  stanza  runs: 
“Fares  Othin’s  son  to  fight  with  the  wolf.”  Sig father  (“Father 
of  Victory”)  :  Othin.  His  son,  Vithar,  is  the  silent  god,  famed 
chiefly  for  his  great  shield,  and  his  strength,  which  is  little  less 
than  Thor’s.  He  survives  the  destruction.  The  giant’s  son:  Fenrir. 

55.  This  and  the  following  stanza  are  clearly  in  bad  shape. 
In  Regius  only  lines  1  and  4  are  found,  combined  with  stanza  56 
as  a  single  stanza.  Line  1  does  not  appear  in  the  Hauksbok 
version,  the  stanza  there  beginning  with  line  2.  Snorri,  in  quot¬ 
ing  these  two  stanzas,  omits  55,  2-4,  and  56,  3,  making  a  single 
stanza  out  of  55,  1,  and  56,  4,  2,  1,  in  that  order.  Moreover,  the 
Hauksbok  manuscript  at  this  point  is  practically  illegible.  The 
lacuna  (line  3)  is,  of  course,  purely  conjectural,  and  all  sorts  of 
arrangements  of  the  lines  have  been  attempted  by  editors. 
Hlothyn:  another  name  for  Jorth  (“Earth”),  Thor’s  mother; 
his  father  was  Othin.  The  snake:  Mithgarthsorm ;  cf.  stanza  50 
and  note.  Othin’s  son:  Thor.  The  fourth  line  in  Regius  reads 
“against  the  wolf,”  but  if  this  line  refers  to  Thor  at  all,  and 
not  to  Vithar,  the  Hauksbok  reading,  “serpent,”  is  correct. 

56.  The  warder  of  earth:  Thor.  The  son  of  Fjorgyn:  again 

[23] 


Poetic  Edda 


57.  The  sun  turns  black,  earth  sinks  in  the  sea, 

The  hot  stars  down  from  heaven  are  whirled ; 
Fiercé  grows  the  steam  and  the  life-feeding  flame, 
Till  fire  leaps  high  about  heaven  itself. 

58.  Now  Garm  howls  loud  before  Gnipahellir, 

The  fetters  will  burst,  and  the  wolf  run  free; 
Much  do  I  know,  and  more  can  see 

Of  the  fate  of  the  gods,  the  mighty  in  fight. 

59.  Now  do  I  see  the  earth  anew 

Rise  all  green  from  the  waves  again ; 

The  cataracts  fall,  and  the  eagle  flies, 

And  fish  he  catches  beneath  the  cliffs. 

60.  The  gods  in  Ithavoll  meet  together, 

Of  the  terrible  girdler  of  earth  they  talk, 


Thor,  who,  after  slaying  the  serpent,  is  overcome  by  his  ven¬ 
omous  breath,  and  dies.  Fjorgyn  appears  in  both  a  masculine  and 
a  feminine  form.  In  the  masculine  it  is  a  name  for  Othin;  in 
the  feminine,  as  here  and  in  Harbarthsljoth,  56,  it  apparently 
refers  to  Jorth. 

57.  With  this  stanza  ends  the  account  of  the  destruction. 

58.  Again  the  refrain-stanza  (cf.  stanza  44  and  note),  abbre¬ 
viated  in  both  manuscripts,  as  in  the  case  of  stanza  49.  It  is 
probably  misplaced  here. 

59.  Here  begins  the  description  of  the  new  world  which  is  to 
rise  out  of  the  wreck  of  the  old  one.  It  is  on  this  passage  that 
a  few  critics  have  sought  to  base  their  argument  that  the  poem 
is  later  than  the  introduction  of  Christianity  ( circa  1000),  but 
this  theory  has  never  seemed  convincing  (cf.  introductory  note). 

60.  The  third  line  of  this  stanza  is  not  found  in  Regius. 
Ithavoll:  cf.  stanza  7  and  note.  The  girdler  of  earth :  Mith- 

[24] 


Voluspo 

And  the  mighty  past  they  call  to  mind, 

And  the  ancient  runes  of  the  Ruler  of  Gods. 


61.  In  wondrous  beauty  once  again 

Shall  the  golden  tables  stand  mid  the  grass, 
Which  the  gods  had  owned  in  the  days  of  old, 


62.  Then  fields  unsowed 
All  ills  grow  better, 
Baldr  and  Hoth  dwell 
And  the  mighty  gods: 

63.  Then  Hönir  wins 


bear  ripened  fruit, 
and  Baldr  comes  back; 
in  Hropt’s  battle-hall, 
would  you  know  yet  more? 

the  prophetic  wand, 


And  the  sons  of  the  brothers  of  Tveggi  abide 
In  Vindheim  now:  would  you  know  yet  more? 


garthsorm,  who,  lying  in  the  sea,  surrounded  the  land.  The  Ruler 
of  Gods:  Othin.  The  runes  were  both  magic  signs,  generally 
carved  on  wood,  and  sung  or  spoken  charms. 

61.  The  Hauksbok  version  of  the  first  two  lines  runs: 

“The  gods  shall  find  there,  wondrous  fair, 

The  golden  tables  amid  the  grass.” 

No  lacuna  (line  4)  is  indicated  in  the  manuscripts.  Golden  tables: 
cf.  stanza  8  and  note. 

62.  Baldr:  cf.  stanza  32  and  note.  Baldr  and  his  brother, 
Hoth,  who  unwittingly  slew  him  at  Loki’s  instigation,  return 
together,  their  union  being  a  symbol  of  the  new  age  of  peace. 
Hropt:  another  name  for  Othin.  His  “battle-hall”  is  Valhall. 

63.  No  lacuna  (line  2)  indicated  in  the  manuscripts.  Hönir : 
cf.  stanza  18  and  note.  In  this  new  age  he  has  the  gift  of  fore¬ 
telling  the  future.  Tveggi  (“The  Twofold”)  :  another  name  for 

[25] 


Poetic  Edda 


64.  More  fair  than  the  sun,  a  hall  I  see, 
Roofed  with  gold,  on  Gimle  it  stands; 
There  shall  the  righteous  rulers  dwell, 
And  happiness  ever  there  shall  they  have. 

65.  There  comes  on  high,  all  power  to  hold, 
A  mighty  lord,  all  lands  he  rules. 


66.  From  below  the  dragon  dark  comes  forth, 
Nithhogg  flying  from  Nithafjoll; 

The  bodies  of  men  on  his  wTings  he  bears, 

The  serpent  bright:  but  now  must  I  sink. 

Othin.  His  brothers  are  Vili  and  Ve  (cf.  Lokasenna,  26,  and 
note).  Little  is  known  of  them,  and  nothing,  beyond  this  refer¬ 
ence,  of  their  sons.  Vindheim  (“Home  of  the  Wind”)  :  heaven. 

64.  This  stanza  is  quoted  by  Snorri.  Gimle:  Snorri  makes 
this  the  name  of  the  hall  itself,  while  here  it  appears  to  refer  to 
a  mountain  on  which  the  hall  stands.  It  is  the  home  of  the  happy, 
as  opposed  to  another  hall,  not  here  mentioned,  for  the  dead. 
Snorri’s  description  of  this  second  hall  is  based  on  Voluspo,  38, 
which  he  quotes,  and  perhaps  that  stanza  properly  belongs 
after  64. 

65.  This  stanza  is  not  found  in  Regius,  and  is  probably 
spurious.  No  lacuna  is  indicated  in  the  Hauksbok  version,  but 
late  paper  manuscripts  add  two  lines,  running: 

“Rule  he  orders,  and  rights  he  fixes, 

Laws  he  ordains  that  ever  shall  live.” 

The  name  of  this  new  ruler  is  nowhere  given,  and  of  course  the 
suggestion  of  Christianity  is  unavoidable.  It  is  not  certain,  how¬ 
ever,  that  even  this  stanza  refers  to  Christianity,  and  if  it  does, 
it  may  have  been  interpolated  long  after  the  rest  of  the  poem 
was  composed. 

66.  This  stanza,  which  fits  so  badly  with  the  preceding  ones, 

[26] 


Voluspo 

may  well  have  been  interpolated.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
dragon,  making  a  last  attempt  to  rise,  is  destroyed,  this  event 
marking  the  end  of  evil  in  the  world.  But  in  both  manuscripts 
the  final  half-line  does  not  refer  to  the  dragon,  but,  as  the  gender 
shows,  to  the  Volva  herself,  who  sinks  into  the  earth;  a  sort  of 
conclusion  to  the  entire  prophecy.  Presumably  the  stanza  (bar¬ 
ring  the  last  half-line,  which  was  probably  intended  as  the  con¬ 
clusion  of  the  poem)  belongs  somewhere  in  the  description  of  the 
great  struggle.  Nithhogg:  the  dragon  at  the  roots  of  Yggdrasil; 
cf.  stanza  39  and  note.  Nithafjoll  (“the  Dark  Crags”)  ;  nowhere 
else  mentioned.  Must  I;  the  manuscripts  have  “must  she.” 


1 27] 


HOVAMOL 

The  Ballad  of  the  High  One 


Introductory  Note 

This  poem  follows  the  Voluspo  in  the  Codex  Regius,  but  is 
preserved  in  no  other  manuscript.  The  first  stanza  is  quoted  by 
Snorri,  and  two  lines  of  stanza  84  appear  in  one  of  the  sagas. 

In  its  present  shape  it  involves  the  critic  of  the  text  in  more 
puzzles  than  any  other  of  the  Eddie  poems.  Without  going  in 
detail  into  the  various  theories,  what  happened  seems  to  have 
been  somewhat  as  follows.  There  existed  from  very  early  times 
a  collection  of  proverbs  and  wise  counsels,  which  were  attributed 
to  Othin  just  as  the  Biblical  proverbs  were  to  Solomon.  This 
collection,  which  presumably  was  always  elastic  in  extent,  was 
known  as  “The  High  One’s  Words,”  and  forms  the  basis  of  the 
present  poem.  To  it,  however,  were  added  other  poems  and 
fragments  dealing  with  wisdom  which  seemed  by  their  nature 
to  imply  that  the  speaker  was  Othin.  Thus  a  catalogue  of  runes, 
or  charms,  was  tacked  on,  and  also  a  set  of  proverbs,  differing 
essentially  in  form  from  those  comprising  the  main  collection. 
Here  and  there  bits  of  verse  more  nearly  narrative  crept  in;  and 
of  course  the  loose  structure  of  the  poem  made  it  easy  for  any 
reciter  to  insert  new  stanzas  almost  at  will.  This  curious  mis¬ 
cellany  is  what  we  now  have  as  the  Hovamol. 

Five  separate  elements  are  pretty  clearly  recognizable:  (1) 
the  Hovamol  proper  (stanzas  1-80),  a  collection  of  proverbs  and 
counsels  for  the  conduct  of  life;  (2)  the  Loddfafnismol  (stanzas 
111-138),  a  collection  somewhat  similar  to  the  first,  but  specific¬ 
ally  addressed  to  a  certain  Loddfafnir;  (3)  the  Ljothatal 
(stanzas  147-165),  a  collection  of  charms;  (4)  the  love-story  of 
Othin  and  Billing’s  daughter  (stanzas  96-102),  with  an  intro¬ 
ductory  dissertation  on  the  faithlessness  of  women  in  general 
(stanzas  81-95),  which  probably  crept  into  the  poem  first,  and 
then  pulled  the  story,  as  an  apt  illustration,  after  it;  (5)  the 
story  of  how  Othin  got  the  mead  of  poetry — the  draught  which 
gave  him  the  gift  of  tongues — from  the  maiden  Gunnloth 
(stanzas  103-110).  There  is  also  a  brief  passage  (stanzas  139- 
146)  telling  how  Othin  won  the  runes,  this  passage  being  a 
natural  introduction  to  the  Ljothatal,  and  doubtless  brought 
into  the  poem  for  that  reason. 

[28] 


Hovamol 


It  is  idle  to  discuss  the  authorship  or  date  of  such  a  series  of 
accretions  as  this.  Parts  of  it  are  doubtless  among  the  oldest 
relics  of  ancient  Germanic  poetry;  pajrts  of  it  may  have  origi¬ 
nated  at  a  relatively  late  period.  Probably,  however,  most  of  its 
component  elements  go  pretty  far  back,  although  we  have  no  way 
of  telling  how  or  when  they  first  became  associated. 

It  seems  all  but  meaningless  to  talk  about  “interpolations”  in 
a  poem  which  has  developed  almost  solely  through  the  process 
of  piecing  together  originally  unrelated  odds  and  ends.  The 
notes,  therefore,  make  only  such  suggestions  as  are  needed  to 
keep  the  main  divisions  of  the  poem  distinct. 

Few  gnomic  collections  in  the  world’s  literary  history  present 
sounder  wisdom  more  tersely  expressed  than  the  Hovamol.  Like 
the  Book  of  Proverbs  it  occasionally  rises  to  lofty  heights  of 
poetry.  If  it  presents  the  worldly  wisdom  of  a  violent  race,  it 
also  shows  noble  ideals  of  loyalty,  truth,  and  unfaltering  courage. 


1.  Within  the  gates  ere  a  man  shall  go, 

(Full  warily  let  him  watch,) 

Full  long  let  him  look  about  him; 

For  little  he  knows  where  a  foe  may  lurk, 
And  sit  in  the  seats  within. 

2.  Hail  to  the  giver !  a  guest  has  come ; 

Where  shall  the  stranger  sit? 

Swift  shall  he  be  who  with  swords  shall  try 
The  proof  of  his  might  to  make. 


1.  This  stanza  is  quoted  by  Snorri,  the  second  line  being 
omitted  in  most  of  the  Prose  Edda  manuscripts. 

2.  Probably  the  first  and  second  lines  had  originally  nothing 
to  do  with  the  third  and  fourth,  the  last  two  not  referring  to 
host  or  guest,  but  to  the  general  danger  of  backing  one’s  views 
with  the  sword. 


[291 


Poetic  Edda 


3.  Fire  he  needs  who  with  frozen  knees 

Has  come  from  the  cold  without; 

Food  and  clothes  must  the  farer  have, 

The  man  from  the  mountains  come. 

4.  Water  and  towels  and  welcoming  speech 

Should  he  find  who  comes  to  the  feast; 

If  renown  he  would  get,  and  again  be  greeted, 
Wisely  and  well  must  he  act. 

5.  Wits  must  he  have  who  wanders  wide, 

But  all  is  easy  at  home; 

At  the  witless  man  the  wise  shall  wink 
When  among  such  men  he  sits. 

6.  A  man  shall  not  boast  of  his  keenness  of  mind, 

But  keep  it  close  in  his  breast; 

To  the  silent  and  wise  does  ill  come  seldom 
When  he  goes  as  guest  to  a  house; 

(For  a  faster  friend  one  never  finds 
Than  wisdom  tried  and  true.) 

7.  The  knowing  guest  who  goes  to  the  feast, 

In  silent  attention  sits; 

With  his  ears  he  hears,  with  his  eyes  he  watches, 
Thus  wary  are  wise  men  all. 


6.  Lines  5  and  6  appear  to  have  been  added  to  the  stanza. 

[30] 


Hovamol 


8.  Happy  the  one  who  wins  for  himself 

Favor  and  praises  fair; 

Less  safe  by  far  is  the  wisdom  found 
That  is  hid  in  another’s  heart. 

9.  Happy  the  man  who  has  while  he  lives 

Wisdom  and  praise  as  well, 

For  evil  counsel  a  man  full  oft 
H  as  from  another’s  heart. 

10.  A  better  burden  may  no  man  bear 

For  wanderings  wide  than  wisdom; 

It  is  better  than  wealth  on  unknown  ways, 
And  in  grief  a  refuge  it  gives. 

11.  A  better  burden  may  no  man  bear 

For  wanderings  wide  than  wisdom ; 

Worse  food  for  the  journey  he  brings  not  afield 
Than  an  over-drinking  of  ale. 

12.  Less  good  there  lies  than  most  believe 

In  ale  for  mortal  men; 

For  the  more  he  drinks  the  less  does  man 
Of  his  mind  the  mastery  hold. 


12.  Some  editors  have  combined  this  stanza  in  various  ways 
with  the  last  two  lines  of  stanza  11,  as  in  the  manuscript  the 
first  two  lines  of  the  latter  are  abbreviated,  and,  if  they  belong 
there  at  all,  are  presumably  identical  with  the  first  two  lines  of 
stanza  10. 


[31] 


Poetic  Edda 


13.  Over  beer  the  bird  of  forgetfulness  broods, 

And  steals  the  minds  of  men; 

With  the  heron’s  feathers  fettered  I  lay 
And  in  Gunnloth’s  house  was  held. 

14.  Drunk  I  was,  I  was  dead-drunk, 

When  with  Fjalar  wise  I  was; 

’Tis  the  best  of  drinking  if  back  one  brings 
His  wisdom  with  him  home. 

15.  The  son  of  a  king  shall  be  silent  and  wise, 

And  bold  in  battle  as  well ; 

Bravely  and  gladly  a  man  shall  go, 

Till  the  day  of  his  death  is  come. 

16.  The  sluggard  believes  he  shall  live  forever, 

If  the  fight  he  faces  not; 

But  age  shall  not  grant  him  the  gift  of  peace, 
Though  spears  may  spare  his  life. 

17.  The  fool  is  agape  when  he  comes  to  the  feast, 

He  stammers  or  else  is  still; 

But  soon  if  he  gets  a  drink  is  it  seen 
What  the  mind  of  the  man  is  like. 


13.  The  heron:  the  bird  of  forgetfulness,  referred  to  in  line  1. 
Gunnloth:  the  daughter  of  the  giant  Suttung,  from  whom  Othin 
won  the  mead  of  poetry.  For  this  episode  see  stanzas  104-no. 

14.  Fjalar :  apparently  another  name  for  Suttung.  This 
stanza,  and  probably  13,  seem  to  have  been  inserted  as  illus¬ 
trative. 


[32] 


Hovamol 


1 8.  He  alone  is  aware  who  has  wandered  wide, 

And  far  abroad  has  fared, 

How  great  a  mind  is  guided  by  him 
That  wealth  of  wisdom  has. 

19.  Shun  not  the  mead,  but  drink  in  measure; 

Speak  to  the  point  or  be  still; 

For  rudeness  none  shall  rightly  blame  thee 
If  soon  thy  bed  thou  seekest. 

20.  The  greedy  man,  if  his  mind  be  vague, 

Will  eat  till  sick  he  is; 

The  vulgar  man,  when  among  the  wise, 

To  scorn  by  his  belly  is  brought. 

21.  The  herds  know  well  when  home  they  shall  fare, 

And  then  from  the  grass  they  go; 

But  the  foolish  man  his  belly’s  measure 
Shall  never  know  aright. 

22.  A  paltry  man  and  poor  of  mind 

At  all  things  ever  mocks; 

For  never  he  knows,  what  he  ought  to  know, 
That  he  is  not  free  from  faults. 

23.  The  witless  man  is  awake  all  night, 

Thinking  of  many  things; 

Care-worn  he  is  when  the  morning  comes, 

And  his  woe  is  just  as  it  was. 

The  foolish  man  for  friends  all  those 
Who  laugh  at  him  will  hold; 

[33] 


24. 


Poetic  Edda 


When  among  the  wise  he  marks  it  not 
Though  hatred  of  him  they  speak. 

25.  The  foolish  man  for  friends  all  those 

Who  laugh  at  him  will  hold ; 

But  the  truth  when  he  comes  to  the  council  he 
learns, 

That  few  in  his  favor  will  speak. 

26.  An  ignorant  man  thinks  that  all  he  knows, 

When  he  sits  by  himself  in  a  corner; 

But  never  what  answer  to  make  he  know., 
When  others  with  questions  come. 

27.  A  witless  man,  when  he  meets  with  men, 

Had  best  in  silence  abide; 

For  no  one  shall  find  that  nothing  he  knows, 

If  his  mouth  is  not  open  too  much. 

(But  a  man  knows  not,  if  nothing  he  knows, 
When  his  mouth  has  been  open  too  much.) 

28.  Wise  shall  he  seem  who  well  can  question, 

And  also  answer  well ; 

Nought  is  concealed  that  men  may  say 
Among  the  sons  of  men. 

29.  Often  he  speaks  who  never  is  still 

With  words  that  win  no  faith; 

25.  The  first  two  lines  are  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript,  but 
are  doubtless  identical  with  the  first  two  lines  of  stanza  24. 

27.  The  last  two  lines  were  probably  added  as  a  commentary 
on  lines  3  and  4. 


[34] 


Hovamol 


The  babbling  tongue,  if  a  bridle  it  find  not, 
Oft  for  itself  sings  ill. 

30.  In  mockery  no  one  a  man  shall  hold, 

Although  he  fare  to  the  feast ; 

Wise  seems  one  oft,  if  nought  he  is  asked, 
And  safely  he  sits  dry-skinned. 

31.  Wise  a  guest  holds  it  to  take  to  his  heels, 

When  mock  of  another  he  makes; 

But  little  he  knows  who  laughs  at  the  feast, 
Though  he  mocks  in  the  midst  of  his  foes. 

32.  Friendly  of  mind  are  many  men, 

Till  feasting  they  mock  at  their  friends ; 

To  mankind  a  bane  must  it  ever  be 
When  guests  together  strive. 

33.  Oft  should  one  make  an  early  meal, 

Nor  fasting  come  to  the  feast; 

Else  he  sits  and  chews  as  if  he  would  choke, 
And  little  is  able  to  ask. 

34.  Crooked  and  far  is  the  road  to  a  foe, 

Though  his  house  on  the  highway  be ; 

But  wide  and  straight  is  the  way  to  a  friend, 
Though  far  away  he  fare. 

35.  Forth  shall  one  go,  nor  stay  as  a  guest 

In  a  single  spot  forever; 

[35] 


Poetic  Edda 


Love  becomes  loathing  if  long  one  sits 
By  the  hearth  in  another’s  home. 

36.  Better  a  house,  though  a  hut  it  be, 

A  man  is  master  at  home ; 

A  pair  of  goats  and  a  patched-up  roof 
Are  better  far  than  begging. 

37.  Better  a  house,  though  a  hut  it  be, 

A  man  is  master  at  home  ; 

His  heart  is  bleeding  who  needs  must  beg 
When  food  he  fain  would  have. 

38.  Away  from  his  arms  in  the  open  field 

A  man  should  fare  not  a  foot ; 

For  never  he  knows  when  the  need  for  a  spear 
Shall  arise  on  the  distant  road. 

39.  If  wealth  a  man  has  won  for  himself, 

Let  him  never  suffer  in  need ; 

Oft  he  saves  for  a  foe  what  he  plans  for  a  friend, 
For  much  goes  worse  than  we  wish. 

40.  None  so  free  with  gifts  or  food  have  I  found 

That  gladly  he  took  not  a  gift, 


36.  The  manuscript  has  “little”  in  place  of  “a  hut”  in  line  1, 
but  this  involves  an  error  in  the  initial-rhymes,  and  the  emenda¬ 
tion  has  been  generally  accepted. 

37.  Lines  1  and  2  are  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript,  but  are 
doubtless  identical  with  the  first  two  lines  of  stanza  36. 

39.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  stanza  40. 

[36] 


Hovamol 


Nor  one  who  so  widely  scattered  his  wealth 
That  of  recompense  hatred  he  had. 

41.  Friends  shall  gladden  each  other  with  arms  and 

garments, 

As  each  for  himself  can  see; 

Gift-givers’  friendships  are  longest  found, 

If  fair  their  fates  may  be. 

42.  To  his  friend  a  man  a  friend  shall  prove, 

And  gifts  with  gifts  requite; 

But  men  shall  mocking  with  mockery  answer, 
And  fraud  with  falsehood  meet. 

43.  To  his  friend  a  man  a  friend  shall  prove, 

To  him  and  the  friend  of  his  friend; 

But  never  a  man  shall  friendship  make 
With  one  of  his  foeman’s  friends. 

44.  If  a  friend  thou  hast  whom  thou  fully  wilt  trust, 

And  good  from  him  wouldst  get, 

Thy  thoughts  with  his  mingle,  and  gifts  shalt 
thou  make, 

And  fare  to  find  him  oft. 


40.  The  key-word  in  line  3  is  missing  in  the  manuscript,  but 
editors  have  agreed  in  inserting  a  word  meaning  “generous.” 

41.  In  line  3  the  manuscript  adds  “givers  again”  to  “gift- 
givers.” 


[37] 


Poetic  Edda 


45.  If  another  thou  hast  whom  thou  hardly  wilt 

trust, 

Yet  good  from  him  wouldst  get, 

Thou  shalt  speak  him  fair,  but  falsely  think, 
And  fraud  with  falsehood  requite. 

46.  So  is  it  with  him  whom  thou  hardly  wilt  trust, 

And  whose  mind  thou  mayst  not  know; 

Laugh  with  him  mayst  thou,  but  speak  not  thy 
mind, 

Like  gifts  to  his  shalt  thou  give. 

47.  Young  was  I  once,  and  wandered  alone, 

And  nought  of  the  road  I  knew ; 

Rich  did  I  feel  when  a  comrade  I  found, 

For  man  is  man’s  delight. 

48.  The  lives  of  the  brave  and  noble  are  best, 

Sorrows  they  seldom  feed ; 

But  the  coward  fear  of  all  things  feels, 

And  not  gladly  the  niggard  gives. 

49.  My  garments  once  in  a  field  I  gave 

To  a  pair  of  carven  poles; 

Heroes  they  seemed  when  clothes  they  had, 
But  the  naked  man  is  nought. 

50.  On  the  hillside  drear  the  fir-tree  dies, 

All  bootless  its  needles  and  bark; 

It  is  like  a  man  whom  no  one  loves, — 

Why  should  his  life  be  long? 

[38] 


Hovamol 


51.  Hotter  than  fire  between  false  friends 

Does  friendship  five  days  burn ; 

When  the  sixth  day  comes  the  fire  cools, 
And  ended  is  all  the  love. 

52.  No  great  thing  needs  a  man  to  give, 

Oft  little  will  purchase  praise; 

With  half  a  loaf  and  a  half-filled  cup 
A  friend  full  fast  I  made. 

53.  A  little  sand  has  a  little  sea, 

And  small  are  the  minds  of  men; 

Though  all  men  are  not  equal  in  wisdom, 
Yet  half-wise  only  are  all. 

54.  A  measure  of  wisdom  each  man  shall  have, 

But  never  too  much  let  him  know; 

The  fairest  lives  do  those  men  live 
Whose  wisdom  wide  has  grown. 

55.  A  measure  of  wisdom  each  man  shall  have, 

But  never  too  much  let  him  know; 

For  the  wise  man’s  heart  is  seldom  happy, 
If  wisdom  too  great  he  has  won. 

56.  A  measure  of  wisdom  each  man  shall  have, 

But  never  too  much  let  him  know ; 


55-56.  The  first  pairs  of  lines  are  abbreviated  in  the  manu¬ 
script. 


[39] 


Poetic  Edda 


Let  no  man  the  fate  before  him  see, 

For  so  is  he  freest  from  sorrow. 

57.  A  brand  from  a  brand  is  kindled  and  burned, 

And  fire  from  fire  begotten; 

And  man  by  his  speech  is  known  to  men, 

And  the  stupid  by  their  stillness. 

58.  He  must  early  go  forth  who  fain  the  blood 

Or  the  goods  of  another  would  get; 

The  wolf  that  lies  idle  shall  win  little  meat, 

Or  the  sleeping  man  success. 

59.  He  must  early  go  forth  whose  workers  are  few, 

Himself  his  work  to  seek; 

Much  remains  undone  for  the  morning-sleeper. 
For  the  swift  is  wealth  half  won. 

60.  Of  seasoned  shingles  and  strips  of  bark 

For  the  thatch  let  one  know  his  need, 

And  how  much  of  wood  he  must  have  for  a 
month, 

Or  in  half  a  year  he  will  use. 

61.  Washed  and  fed  to  the  council  fare, 

But  care  not  too  much  for  thy  clothes ; 

Let  none  be  ashamed  of  his  shoes  and  hose, 

Less  still  of  the  steed  he  rides, 

(Though  poor  be  the  horse  he  has.) 


61.  The  fifth  line  is  probably  a  spurious  addition. 

[40] 


Hovamol 


62.  When  the  eagle  comes  to  the  ancient  sea, 

He  snaps  and  hangs  his  head  ; 

So  is  a  man  in  the  midst  of  a  throng, 

Who  few  to  speak  for  him  finds. 

63.  To  question  and  answer  must  all  be  ready 

Who  wish  to  be  known  as  wise; 

Tell  one  thy  thoughts,  but  beware  of  two, — 
All  know  what  is  known  to  three. 

64.  The  man  who  is  prudent  a  measured  use 

Of  the  might  he  has  will  make ; 

He  finds  when  among  the  brave  he  fares 
That  the  boldest  he  may  not  be. 

65 . 


Oft  for  the  words  that  to  others  one  speaks 
He  will  get  but  an  evil  gift. 

66.  Too  early  to  many  a  meeting  I  came, 

And  some  too  late  have  I  sought; 

The  beer  was  all  drunk,  or  not  yet  brewed  ; 
Little  the  loathed  man  finds. 


62.  This  stanza  follows  stanza  63  in  the  manuscript,  but  there 
are  marks  therein  indicating  the  transposition. 

65.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  lacuna  (lines  1  and  2).  Many 
editors  have  filled  out  the  stanza  with  two  lines  from  late  paper 
manuscripts,  the  passage  running: 

“A  man  must  be  watchful  and  wary  as  well, 

And  fearful  of  trusting  a  friend.” 

[41] 


Poetic  Edda 


67.  To  their  homes  men  would  bid  me  hither  and 

yon, 

If  at  meal-time  I  needed  no  meat, 

Or  would  hang  two  hams  in  my  true  friend’s 
house, 

Where  only  one  I  had  eaten. 

68.  Fire  for  men  is  the  fairest  gift, 

And  power  to  see  the  sun; 

Health  as  well,  if  a  man  may  have  it, 

And  a  life  not  stained  with  sin. 

69.  All  wretched  is  no  man,  though  never  so  sick; 

Some  from  their  sons  have  joy, 

Some  win  it  from  kinsmen,  and  some  from  their 
wealth, 

And  some  from  worthy  works. 

70.  It  is  better  to  live  than  to  lie  a  corpse, 

The  live  man  catches  the  cow; 

I  saw  flames  rise  for  the  rich  man’s  pyre, 

And  before  his  door  he  lay  dead. 

71.  The  lame  rides  a  horse,  the  handless  is  herdsman, 

The  deaf  in  battle  is  bold ; 

The  blind  man  is  better  than  one  that  is  burned, 
No  good  can  come  of  a  corpse. 


70.  The  manuscript  has  “and  a  worthy  life”  in  place  of  “than 
to  lie  a  corpse”  in  line  1,  but  Rask  suggested  the  emendation  as 
early  as  1818,  and  most  editors  have  followed  him. 

[42] 


Hovamol 


72.  A  son  is  better,  though  late  he  be  born, 

And  his  father  to  death  have  fared; 
Memory-stones  seldom  stand  by  the  road 
Save  when  kinsman  honors  his  kin. 

73.  Two  make  a  battle,  the  tongue  slays  the  head ; 
In  each  furry  coat  a  fist  I  look  for. 

74.  He  welcomes  the  night  whose  fare  is  enough, 

(Short  are  the  yards  of  a  ship,) 

Uneasy  are  autumn  nights; 

Full  oft  does  the  weather  change  in  a  week, 
And  more  in  a  month’s  time. 

75.  A  man  knows  not,  if  nothing  he  knows, 

That  gold  oft  apes  begets; 

One  man  is  wealthy  and  one  is  poor, 

Yet  scorn  for  him  none  should  know. 

76.  Among  Fitjung’s  sons  saw  I  well-stocked 

folds, — 

Now  bear  they  the  beggar’s  staff; 


73-74.  These  seven  lines  are  obviously  a  jumble.  The  two 
lines  of  stanza  73  not  only  appear  out  of  place,  but  the  verse- 
form  is  unlike  that  of  the  surrounding  stanzas.  In  74,  the  second 
line  is  clearly  interpolated,  and  line  1  has  little  enough  connec¬ 
tion  with  lines  3,  4  and  5.  It  looks  as  though  some  compiler  (or 
copyist)  had  inserted  here  various  odds  and  ends  for  which  he 
could  find  no  better  place. 

75.  The  word  “gold”  in  line  2  is  more  or  less  conjectural, 
the  manuscript  being  obscure.  The  reading  in  line  4  is  also 
doubtful. 


[43] 


Poetic  Edda 


Wealth  is  as  swift  as  a  winking  eye, 

Of  friends  the  falsest  it  is. 

77.  Cattle  die,  and  kinsmen  die, 

And  so  one  dies  one’s  self ; 

But  a  noble  name  will  never  die, 

If  good  renown  one  gets. 

78.  Cattle  die,  and  kinsmen  die, 

And  so  one  dies  one’s  self; 

One  thing  I  know  that  never  dies, 

The  fame  of  a  dead  man’s  deeds. 

79.  Certain  is  that  which  is  sought  from  runes, 

That  the  gods  so  great  have  made, 

And  the  Master-Poet  painted ; 


. of  the  race  of  gods: 

Silence  is  safest  and  best. 

80.  An  unwise  man,  if  a  maiden’s  love 
Or  wealth  he  chances  to  win, 

76.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  78,  the  order  being: 
77,  78,  76,  80,  79,  81.  Fitjung  (“the  Nourisher”)  :  Earth. 

79.  This  stanza  is  certainly  in  bad  shape,  and  probably  out 
of  place  here.  Its  reference  to  runes  as  magic  signs  suggests  that 
it  properly  belongs  in  some  list  of  charms  like  the  Ljothatal 
(stanzas  147-165).  The  stanza-form  is  so  irregular  as  to  show 
either  that  something  has  been  lost  or  that  there  have  been  inter¬ 
polations.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  lacuna;  Gering  fills  out 
the  assumed  gap  as  follows: 

“Certain  is  that  which  is  sought  from  runes, 

The  runes — ,”  etc. 


[44] 


Hovamol 


His  pride  will  wax,  but  his  wisdom  never, 

Straight  forward  he  fares  in  conceit. 

*  % 

8 1.  Give  praise  to  the  day  at  evening,  to  a  woman 

on  her  pyre, 

To  a  weapon  which  Í9  tried,  to  a  maid  at  wed¬ 
lock, 

To  ice  when  it  is  crossed,  to  ale  that  is  drunk. 

82.  When  the  gale  blows  hew  wood,  in  fair  winds 

seek  the  water; 

Sport  with  maidens  at  dusk,  for  day’s  eyes  are 
many; 

From  the  ship  seek  swiftness,  from  the  shield 
protection, 

Cuts  from  the  sword,  from  the  maiden  kisses. 

83.  By  the  fire  drink  ale,  over  ice  go  on  skates; 
Buy  a  steed  that  is  lean,  and  a  sword  when 

tarnished, 


81.  With  this  stanza  the  verse-form,  as  indicated  in  the  trans¬ 
lation,  abruptly  changes  to  Malahattr.  What  has  happened  seems 
to  have  been  something  like  this.  Stanza  80  introduces  the  idea 
of  man’s  love  for  woman.  Consequently  some  reciter  or  com¬ 
piler  (or  possibly  even  a  copyist)  took  occasion  to  insert  at  this 
point  certain  stanzas  concerning  the  ways  of  women.  Thus 
stanza  80  would  account  for  the  introduction  of  stanzas  81  and 
82,  which,  in  turn,  apparently  drew  stanza  83  in  with  them. 
Stanza  84  suggests  the  fickleness  of  women,  and  is  immediately 
followed — again  with  a  change  of  verse-form — by  a  list  of  things 
equally  untrustworthy  (stanzas  85-90).  Then,  after  a  few  more 
stanzas  on  love  in  the  regular  measure  of  the  Hovamol  (stanzas 
91-95),  is  introduced,  by  way  of  illustration,  Othin’s  story  of  his 

[45] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  horse  at  home  fatten,  the  hound  in  thy 
dwelling. 

*  #  * 

84.  A  man  shall  trust  not  the  oath  of  a  maid, 

Nor  the  word  a  woman  speaks; 

For  their  hearts  on  a  whirling  wheel  were  fash¬ 
ioned, 

And  fickle  their  breasts  were  formed. 

*  *  * 

85.  In  a  breaking  bow  or  a  burning  flame, 

A  ravening  wolf  or  a  croaking  raven, 

In  a  grunting  boar,  a  tree  with  roots  broken, 

In  billowy  seas  or  a  bubbling  kettle, 

86.  In  a  flying  arrow  or  falling  waters, 

In  ice  new  formed  or  the  serpent’s  folds, 

In  a  bride’s  bed-speech  or  a  broken  sword, 

In  the  sport  of  bears  or  in  sons  of  kings, 

87.  In  a  calf  that  is  sick  or  a  stubborn  thrall, 

A  flattering  witch  or  a  foe  new  slain. 


adventure  with  Billing’s  daughter  (stanzas  96-102).  Some  such 
process  of  growth,  whatever  its  specific  stages  may  have  been, 
must  be  assumed  to  account  for  the  curious  chaos  of  the  whole 
passage  from  stanza  81  to  stanza  102. 

84.  Lines  3  and  4  are  quoted  in  the  Fostbrœthrasaga. 

85.  Stanzas  85-88  and  90  are  in  Fornyrthislag,  and  clearly 
come  from  a  different  source  from  the  rest  of  the  Hovamol. 

87.  The  stanza  is  doubtless  incomplete.  Some  editors  add  from 
a  late  paper  manuscript  two  lines  running: 

“In  a  light,  clear  sky  or  a  laughing  throng, 

In  the  howl  of  a  dog  or  a  harlot’s  grief.” 


[46] 


Hovamol 


88.  In  a  brother’s  slayer,  if  thou  meet  him  abroad, 
In  a  half-burned  house,  in  a  horse  full  swift — 
One  leg  is  hurt  and  the  horse  is  useless — 

None  had  ever  such  faith  as  to  trust  in  them  all. 

*  *  * 

89.  Hope  not  too  surely  for  early  harvest, 

Nor  trust  too  soon  in  thy  son ; 

The  field  needs  good  weather,  the  son  needs 
wisdom, 

And  oft  is  either  denied. 

*  *  * 

90.  The  love  of  women  fickle  of  will 

Is  like  starting  o’er  ice  with  a  steed  unshod, 

A  two-year-old  restive  and  little  tamed, 

Or  steering  a  rudderless  ship  in  a  storm, 

Or,  lame,  hunting  reindeer  on  slippery  rocks. 

*  * 

91.  Clear  now  will  I  speak,  for  I  know  them  both, 

Men  false  to  women  are  found ; 

When  fairest  we  speak,  then  falsest  we  think, 
Against  wisdom  we  work  with  deceit. 

92.  Soft  words  shall  he  speak  and  wealth  shall  he 

offer 

Who  longs  for  a  maiden’s  love, 

And  the  beauty  praise  of  the  maiden  bright; 

He  wins  whose  wooing  is  best. 

88.  This  stanza  follows  stanza  89  in  the  manuscript.  Many 
editors  have  changed  the  order,  for  while  stanza  89  is  pretty 
clearly  an  interpolation  wherever  it  stands,  it  seriously  inter¬ 
feres  with  the  sense  if  it  breaks  in  between  87  and  88. 

[47] 


Poetic  Edda 


93.  Fault  for  loving  let  no  man  find 

Ever  with  any  other; 

Oft  the  wise  are  fettered,  where  fools  go  free, 
By  beauty  that  breeds  desire. 

94.  Fault  with  another  let  no  man  find 

For  what  touches  many  a  man; 

Wise  men  oft  into  witless  fools 
Are  made  by  mighty  love. 

95.  The  head  alone  knows  what  dwells  near  the 

heart, 

A  man  knows  his  mind  alone; 

No  sickness  is  worse  to  one  who  is  wise 
Than  to  lack  the  longed-for  joy. 

96.  This  found  I  myself,  when  I  sat  in  the  reeds, 

And  long  my  love  awaited ; 

As  my  life  the  maiden  wise  I  loved, 

Yet  her  I  never  had. 

97.  Billing’s  daughter  I  found  on  her  bed, 

In  slumber  bright  as  the  sun; 

Empty  appeared  an  earl’s  estate 
Without  that  form  so  fair. 

96.  Here  begins  the  passage  (stanzas  96-102)  illustrating  the 
falseness  of  woman  by  the  story  of  Othin’s  unsuccessful  love- 
affair  with  Billing’s  daughter.  Of  this  person  we  know  nothing 
beyond  what  is  here  told,  but  the  story  needs  little  comment. 

[48] 


Hovamol 


98.  “Othin,  again  at  evening  come, 

If  a  woman  thou  wouldst  win; 

Evil  it  were  if  others  than  we 
Should  know  of  such  a  sin.” 

99.  Away  I  hastened,  hoping  for  joy, 

And  careless  of  counsel  wise; 

Well  I  believed  that  soon  I  should  win 
Measureless  joy  with  the  maid. 

100.  So  came  I  next  when  night  it  was, 

The  warriors  all  were  awake ; 

With  burning  lights  and  waving  brands 
I  learned  my  luckless  way. 

1 01.  At  morning  then,  when  once  more  I  came, 

And  all  were  sleeping  still, 

A  dog  I  found  in  the  fair  one’s  place, 
Bound  there  upon  her  bed. 

102.  Many  fair  maids,  if  a  man  but  tries  them, 

False  to  a  lover  are  found; 

That  did  I  learn  when  I  longed  to  gain 
With  wiles  the  maiden  wise ; 


102.  Rask  adds  at  the  beginning  of  this  stanza  two  lines  from 
a  late  paper  manuscript,  running: 

“Few  are  so  good  that  false  they  are  never 

To  cheat  the  mind  of  a  man.” 

He  makes  these  two  lines  plus  lines  1  and  2  a  full  stanza,  and 
lines  3,  4,  5,  and  6  a  second  stanza. 

[49] 


Poetic  Edda 


Foul  scorn  was  my  meed  from  the  crafty  maid, 
And  nought  from  the  woman  I  won. 

íjc-  ifc  ifc 

103.  Though  glad  at  home,  and  merry  with  guests, 

A  man  shall  be  wary  and  wise; 

The  sage  and  shrewd,  wide  wisdom  seeking, 
Must  see  that  his  speech  be  fair; 

A  fool  is  he  named  who  nought  can  say, 

For  such  is  the  way  of  the  witless. 

104.  I  found  the  old  giant,  now  back  have  I  fared, 

Small  gain  from  silence  I  got; 

Full  many  a  word,  my  will  to  get, 

I  spoke  in  Suttung’s  hall. 

105.  The  mouth  of  Rati  made  room  for  my  passage, 

And  space  in  the  stone  he  gnawed; 


103.  With  this  stanza  the  subject  changes  abruptly,  and  ap¬ 
parently  the  virtues  of  fair  speech,  mentioned  in  the  last  three 
lines,  account  for  the  introduction,  from  what  source  cannot  be 
known,  of  the  story  of  Othin  and  the  mead  of  song  (stanzas 
104-110) . 

104.  The  giant  Suttung  (“the  old  giant”)  possessed  the  magic 
mead,  a  draught  of  which  conferred  the  gift  of  poetry.  Othin, 
desiring  to  obtain  it,  changed  himself  into  a  snake,  bored  his  way 
through  a  mountain  into  Suttung’s  home,  made  love  to  the  giant’s 
daughter,  Gunnloth,  and  by  her  connivance  drank  up  all  the 
mead.  Then  he  flew  away  in  the  form  of  an  eagle,  leaving  Gunn¬ 
loth  to  her  fate.  While  with  Suttung  he  assumed  the  name  of 
Bolverk  (“the  Evil-Doer”). 

105.  Rati  (“the  Traveller”)  :  the  gimlet  with  which  Othin 
bored  through  the  mountain  to  reach  Suttung’s  home. 

[50] 


Hovamol 


Above  and  below  the  giants’  paths  lay, 

So  rashly  I  risked  my  head. 

106.  Gunnloth  gave  on  a  golden  stool 

A  drink  of  the  marvelous  mead; 

A  harsh  reward  did  I  let  her  have 
For  her  heroic  heart, 

And  her  spirit  troubled  sore. 

107.  The  well-earned  beauty  well  I  enjoyed, 

Little  the  wise  man  lacks; 

So  Othrörir  now  has  up  been  brought 
To  the  midst  of  the  men  of  earth. 

108.  Hardly,  methinks,  would  I  home  have  come, 

And  left  the  giants’  land, 

Had  not  Gunnloth  helped  me,  the  maiden  good, 
Whose  arms  about  me  had  been. 

109.  The  day  that  followed,  the  frost-giants  came, 

Some  word  of  Hor  to  win, 

(And  into  the  hall  of  Hor;) 


106.  Probably  either  the  fourth  or  the  fifth  line  is  a  spurious 
addition. 

107.  Othrörir:  here  the  name  of  the  magic  mead  itself, 
whereas  in  stanza  141  it  is  the  name  of  the  vessel  containing  it. 
Othin  had  no  intention  of  bestowing  any  of  the  precious  mead 
upon  men,  but  as  he  was  flying  over  the  earth,  hotly  pursued  by 
Suttung,  he  spilled  some  of  it  out  of  his  mouth,  and  in  this 
way  mankind  also  won  the  gift  of  poetry. 

109.  Hor:  Othin  (“the  High  One”)*  The  frost-giants,  Sut- 
tung’s  kinsmen,  appear  not  to  have  suspected  Othin  of  being 

[51] 


Poetic  Edda 


Of  Bolverk  they  asked,  were  he  back  midst  the 
gods, 

Or  had  Suttung  slain  him  there? 

no.  On  his  ring  swore  Othin  the  oath,  methinks; 
Who  now  his  troth  shall  trust? 

Suttung’s  betrayal  he  sought  with  drink, 

And  Gunnloth  to  grief  he  left. 

*  *■  * 

in.  It  is  time  to  chant  from  the  chanter’s  stool; 

By  the  wells  of  Urth  I  was, 

I  saw  and  was  silent,  I  saw  and  thought, 

And  heard  the  speech  of  Hor. 

(Of  runes  heard  I  words,  nor  were  counsels 
wanting, 

At  the  hall  of  Hor, 

In  the  hall  of  Hor; 

Such  was  the  speech  I  heard.) 


identical  with  Bolverk,  possibly  because  the  oath  referred  to  in 
stanza  iio  was  an  oath  made  by  Othin  to  Suttung  that  there  was 
no  such  person  as  Bolverk  among  the  gods.  The  giants,  of  course, 
fail  to  get  from  Othin  the  information  they  seek  concerning  Bol¬ 
verk,  but  Othin  is  keenly  conscious  of  having  violated  the  most 
sacred  of  oaths,  that  sworn  on  his  ring. 

in.  With  this  stanza  begins  the  Loddfafnismol  (stanzas  m- 
138).  Loddfafnir  is  apparently  a  wandering  singer,  who,  from 
his  “chanter’s  stool,”  recites  the  verses  which  he  claims  to  have 
received  from  Othin.  Wells  of  Urth:  cf.  Voluspo,  19  and  note. 
Urth  (“the  Past”)  is  one  of  the  three  Norns.  This  stanza  is 
apparently  in  corrupt  form,  and  editors  have  tried  many  experi¬ 
ments  with  it,  both  in  rejecting  lines  as  spurious  and  in  rear¬ 
ranging  the  words  and  punctuation.  It  looks  rather  as  though  the 
first  four  lines  formed  a  complete  stanza,  and  the  last  four  had 

[52] 


Hovamol 


1 1 2.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  m37 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Rise  not  at  night,  save  if  news  thou  seekest, 

Or  fain  to  the  outhouse  wouldst  fare. 

1 13.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Beware  of  sleep  on  a  witch’s  bosom, 

Nor  let  her  limbs  ensnare  thee. 

1 14.  Such  is  her  might  that  thou  hast  no  mind 

For  the  council  or  meeting  of  men; 

Meat  thou  hatest,  joy  thou  hast  not, 

And  sadly  to  slumber  thou  farest. 

1 15.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

crept  in  later.  The  phrase  translated  “the  speech  of  Hor”  is 
“Hova  mol,”  later  used  as  the  title  for  the  entire  poem. 

1  12.  Lines  1-3  are  the  formula,  repeated  (abbreviated  in  the 
manuscript)  in  most  of  the  stanzas,  with  which  Othin  prefaces 
his  counsels  to  Loddfafnir,  and  throughout  this  section,  except  in 
stanzas  hi  and  138,  Loddfafnir  represents  himself  as  simply 
quoting  Othin’s  words.  The  material  is  closely  analogous  to  that 
contained  in  the  first  eighty  stanzas  of  the  poem.  In  some  cases 
(e.  g.,  stanzas  117,  119,  121,  126  and  130)  the  formula  precedes 
a  full  four-line  stanza  instead  of  two  (or  three)  lines. 

[53] 


Poetic  Edda 


Seek  never  to  win  the  wife  of  another, 

Or  long  for  her  secret  love. 

1 1 6.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

If  o’er  mountains  or  gulfs  thou  fain  wouldst  go, 
Look  well  to  thy  food  for  the  way. 

1 1 7.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

An  evil  man  thou  must  not  let 
Bring  aught  of  ill  to  thee; 

For  an  evil  man  will  never  make 
Reward  for  a  worthy  thought. 

1 1 8.  I  saw  a  man  who  was  wounded  sore 

By  an  evil  woman’s  word ; 

A  lying  tongue  his  death-blow  launched, 

And  no  word  of  truth  there  was. 

1 19.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

If  a  friend  thou  hast  whom  thou  fully  wilt  trust, 
Then  fare  to  find  him  oft; 

For  brambles  grow  and  waving  grass 
On  the  rarely  trodden  road. 

[54] 


Hovamol 


120.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — * 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

A  good  man  find  to  hold  in  friendship, 

And  give  heed  to  his  healing  charms. 

12 1.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Be  never  the  first  to  break  with  thy  friend 
The  bond  that  holds  you  both; 

Care  eats  the  heart  if  thou  canst  not  speak 
To  another  all  thy  thought. 

122.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Exchange  of  words  with  a  witless  ape 
Thou  must  not  ever  make. 

123.  For  never  thou  mayst  from  an  evil  man 

A  good  requital  get; 

But  a  good  man  oft  the  greatest  love 
Through  words  of  praise  will  win  thee. 

124.  Mingled  is  love  when  a  man  can  speak 

To  another  all  his  thought; 

[55] 


Poetic  Edda 


Nought  is  so  bad  as  false  to  be, 

No  friend  speaks  only  fair. 

125.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

With  a  worse  man  speak  not  three  words  in 
dispute, 

Ill  fares  the  better  oft 

When  the  worse  man  wields  a  sword. 

126.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

A  shoemaker  be,  or  a  maker  of  shafts, 

For  only  thy  single  self; 

If  the  shoe  is  ill  made,  or  the  shaft  prove  false, 
Then  evil  of  thee  men  think. 

127.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

If  evil  thou  knowest,  as  evil  proclaim  it, 

And  make  no  friendship  with  foes. 

128.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

[56] 


Hovamol 


Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

In  evil  never  joy  shalt  thou  know, 

But  glad  the  good  shall  make  thee. 

129.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Look  not  up  when  the  battle  is  on, — 

(Like  madmen  the  sons  of  men  become, — ) 
Lest  men  bewitch  thy  wits. 

130.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

If  thou  fain  wouldst  win  a  woman’s  love, 
And  gladness  get  from  her, 

Fair  be  thy  promise  and  well  fulfilled; 

None  loathes  what  good  he  gets. 

13 1.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

I  bid  thee  be  wary,  but  be  not  fearful; 

(Beware  most  with  ale  or  another’s  wife, 

And  third  beware  lest  a  thief  outwit  thee.) 

129.  Line  5  is  apparently  interpolated. 

131.  Lines  5-6  probably  were  inserted  from  a  different  poem. 

[57] 


Poetic  Edda 


132.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Scorn  or  mocking  ne’er  shalt  thou  make 
Of  a  guest  or  a  journey-goer. 

133.  Oft  scarcely  he  knows  who  sits  in  the  house 

What  kind  is  the  man  who  comes; 

None  so  good  is  found  that  faults  he  has  not, 
Nor  so  wicked  that  nought  he  is  worth. 

134.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest : 

Scorn  not  ever  the  gray-haired  singer, 

Oft  do  the  old  speak  good ; 

(Oft  from  shrivelled  skin  come  skillful  counsels, 
Though  it  hang  with  the  hides, 

And  flap  with  the  pelts, 

And  is  blown  with  the  bellies.) 


133.  Many  editors  reject  the  last  two  lines  of  this  stanza  as 
spurious,  putting  the  first  two  lines  at  the  end  of  the  preceding 
stanza.  Others,  attaching  lines  3  and  4  to  stanza  132,  insert  as 
the  first  two  lines  of  stanza  133  two  lines  from  a  late  paper 
manuscript,  running: 

“Evil  and  good  do  men’s  sons  ever 
“Mingled  bear  in  their  breasts.” 

134.  Presumably  the  last  four  lines  have  been  added  to  this 
stanza,  for  the  parallelism  in  the  last  three  makes  it  probable 
that  they  belong  together.  The  wrinkled  skin  of  the  old  man  is 

[58] 


Hovamol 


135.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

Curse  not  thy  guest,  nor  show  him  thy  gate, 
Deal  well  with  a  man  in  want. 

136.  Strong  is  the  beam  that  raised  must  be 

To  give  an  entrance  to  all; 

Give  it  a  ring,  or  grim  will  be 
The  wish  it  would  work  on  thee. 

137.  I  rede  thee,  Loddfafnir!  and  hear  thou  my 

rede, — 

Profit  thou  hast  if  thou  hearest, 

Great  thy  gain  if  thou  learnest: 

When  ale  thou  drinkest,  seek  might  of  earth, 
(For  earth  cures  drink,  and  fire  cures  ills, 

The  oak  cures  tightness,  the  ear  cures  magic, 
Rye  cures  rupture,  the  moon  cures  rage, 

Grass  cures  the  scab,  and  runes  the  sword-cut;) 
The  field  absorbs  the  flood. 


compared  with  the  dried  skins  and  bellies  of  animals  kept  for 
various  purposes  hanging  in  an  Icelandic  house. 

136.  This  stanza  suggests  the  dangers  of  too  much  hospitality. 
The  beam  (bolt)  which  is  ever  being  raised  to  admit  guests  be¬ 
comes  weak  thereby.  It  needs  a  ring  to  help  it  in  keeping  the  door 
closed,  and  without  the  ability  at  times  to  ward  off  guests  a  man 
becomes  the  victim  of  his  own  generosity. 

137.  The  list  of  “household  remedies”  in  this  stanza  is  doubt¬ 
less  interpolated.  Their  nature  needs  no  comment  here. 

[59] 


Poetic  Edda 


138.  Now  are  Hor’s  words  spoken  in  the  hall, 

Kind  for  the  kindred  of  men, 

Cursed  for  the  kindred  of  giants: 

Hail  to  the  speaker,  and  to  him  who  learns! 
Profit  be  his  who  has  them! 

Hail  to  them  who  hearken! 

*  *  * 

139.  I  ween  that  I  hung  on  the  windy  tree, 

Hung  there  for  nights  full  nine; 

With  the  spear  I  was  wounded,  and  offered  I 
was 

To  Othin,  myself  to  myself, 

On  the  tree  that  none  may  ever  know 
What  root  beneath  it  runs. 


138.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  comes  at  the  end  of  the 
entire  poem,  following  stanza  165.  Most  recent  editors  have  fol¬ 
lowed  Miillenhoff  in  shifting  it  to  this  position,  as  it  appears  to 
conclude  the  passage  introduced  by  the  somewhat  similar  stanza 

III. 

139.  With  this  stanza  begins  the  most  confusing  part  of  the 
Hovamol:  the  group  of  eight  stanzas  leading  up  to  the  Ljothatal, 
or  list  of  charms.  Certain  paper  manuscripts  have  before  this 
stanza  a  title:  “Othin’s  Tale  of  the  Runes.”  Apparently  stanzas 
139,  140  and  142  are  fragments  of  an  account  of  how  Othin  ob¬ 
tained  the  runes;  141  is  erroneously  inserted  from  some  version 
of  the  magic  mead  story  (cf.  stanzas  104-110)  ;  and  stanzas  143, 
144,  145,  and  146  are  from  miscellaneous  sources,  all,  however, 
dealing  with  the  general  subject  of  runes.  With  stanza  147  a 
clearly  continuous  passage  begins  once  more.  The  windy  tree: 
the  ash  Yggdrasil  (literally  “the  Horse  of  Othin,”  so  called  be¬ 
cause  of  this  story),  on  which  Othin,  in  order  to  win  the  magic 
runes,  hanged  himself  as  an  offering  to  himself,  and  wounded 
himself  with  his  own  spear.  Lines  5  and  6  have  presumably  been 
borrowed  from  Svipdagsmol ,  30. 

[60] 


Hovamol 


140.  None  made  me  happy  with  loaf  or  horn, 

And  there  below  I  looked; 

I  took  up  the  runes,  shrieking  I  took  them, 

And  forthwith  back  I  fell. 

1 41.  Nine  mighty  songs  I  got  from  the  son 

Of  Bolthorn,  Bestla’s  father; 

And  a  drink  I  got  of  the  goodly  mead 
Poured  out  from  Othrörir. 

142.  Then  began  I  to  thrive,  and  wisdom  to  get, 

I  grew  and  well  I  was; 

Each  word  led  me  on  to  another  word, 

Each  deed  to  another  deed. 

143.  Runes  shalt  thou  find,  and  fateful  signs, 

That  the  king  of  singers  colored, 

And  the  mighty  gods  have  made ; 

141.  This  stanza,  interrupting  as  it  does  the  account  of  Othin’s 
winning  the  runes,  appears  to  be  an  interpolation.  The  meaning 
of  the  stanza  is  most  obscure.  Bolthorn  was  Othin’s  grandfather, 
and  Bestla  his  mother.  We  do  not  know  the  name  of  the  uncle 
here  mentioned,  but  it  has  been  suggested  that  this  son  of  Bol¬ 
thorn  was  Mimir  (cf.  Voluspo,  27  and  note,  and  47  and  note). 
In  any  case,  the  nine  magic  songs  which  he  learned  from  his 
uncle  seem  to  have  enabled  him  to  win  the  magic  mead  (cf. 
stanzas  104-110).  Concerning  Othr'örir,  here  used  as  the  name  of 
the  vessel  containing  the  mead,  cf.  stanza  107  and  note. 

143.  This  and  the  following  stanza  belong  together,  and  in 
many  editions  appear  as  a  single  stanza.  They  presumably  come 
from  some  lost  poem  on  the  authorship  of  the  runes.  Lines  2  and 
3  follow  line  4  in  the  manuscript;  the  transposition  was  sug¬ 
gested  by  Bugge.  The  king  of  singers:  Othin.  The  magic  signs 
(runes)  were  commonly  carved  in  wood,  then  colored  red. 

[61] 


Poetic  Edda 


Full  strong  the  signs,  full  mighty  the  signs 
That  the  ruler  of  gods  doth  write. 


144.  Othin  for  the  gods,  Dain  for  the  elves, 
And  Dvalin  for  the  dwarfs, 

Alsvith  for  giants  and  all  mankind, 
And  some  myself  I  wrote. 


145.  Knowest  how  one  shall  write, 
shall  rede? 

Knowest  how  one  shall  tint, 
makes  trial? 

Knowest  how  one  shall  ask, 
shall  offer? 

Knowest  how  one  shall  send, 
shall  sacrifice  ? 


knowest  how  one 
knowest  how  one 
knowest  how  one 
knowest  how  one 


144.  Dain  and  Dvalin:  dwarfs;  cf.  Voluspo,  14,  and  note. 
Dain,  however,  may  here  be  one  of  the  elves  rather  than  the 
dwarf  of  that  name.  The  two  names  also  appear  together  in 
Grimnismol,  33,  where  they  are  applied  to  two  of  the  four  harts 
that  nibble  at  the  topmost  twigs  of  Yggdrasil.  Alsvith  (“the  All- 
Wise”).  appears  nowhere  else  as  a  giant’s  name.  Myself :  Othin. 
We  have  no  further  information  concerning  the  list  of  those 
who  wrote  the  runes  for  the  various  races,  and  these  four  lines 
seem  like  a  confusion  of  names  in  the  rather  hazy  mind  of  some 
reciter. 

145.  This  Malahattr  stanza  appears  to  be  a  regular  religious 
formula,  concerned  less  with  the  runes  which  one  “writes”  and 
“tints”  (cf.  stanza  79)  than  with  the  prayers  which  one  “asks” 
and  the  sacrifices  which  one  “offers”  and  “sends.”  Its  origin  is 
wholly  uncertain,  but  it  is  clearly  an  interpolation  here.  In  the 
manuscript  the  phrase  “knowest?”  is  abbreviated  after  the  first 
line. 


[62] 


Hovamol 


146.  Better  no  prayer  than  too  big  an  offering, 
By  thy  getting  measure  thy  gift; 

Better  is  none  than  too  big  a  sacrifice, 


So  Thund  of  old  wrote  ere  man’s  race  began, 
Where  he  rose  on  high  when  home  he  came. 

*  * 

147.  The  songs  I  know  that  king’s  wives  know  not, 

Nor  men  that  are  sons  of  men; 

The  first  is  called  help,  and  help  it  can  bring 
thee 

In  sorrow  and  pain  and  sickness. 

148.  A  second  I  know,  that  men  shall  need 

Who  leechcraft  long  to  use; 


146.  This  stanza  as  translated  here  follows  the  manuscript 
reading,  except  in  assuming  a  gap  between  lines  3  and  5.  In 
Vigfusson  and  Powell’s  Corpus  Poeticum  Boreale  the  first  three 
lines  have  somehow  been  expanded  into  eight.  The  last  two  lines 
are  almost  certainly  misplaced;  Bugge  suggests  that  they  belong 
at  the  end  of  stanza  144.  Thund:  another  name  for  Othin.  IV hen 
home  he  came:  presumably  after  obtaining  the  runes  as  described 
in  stanzas  139  and  140. 

147.  With  this  stanza  begins  the  Ljothatal,  or  list  of  charms. 
The  magic  songs  themselves  are  not  given,  but  in  each  case  the 
peculiar  application  of  the  charm  is  explained.  The  passage, 
which  is  certainly  approximately  complete  as  far  as  it  goes,  runs 
to  the  end  of  the  poem.  In  the  manuscript  and  in  most  editions 
line  4  falls  into  two  half-lines,  running: 

“In  sickness  and  pain 

[63] 


and  every  sorrow.” 


Poetic  Edda 


149.  A  third  I  know,  if  great  is  my  need 

Of  fetters  to  hold  my  foe ; 

Blunt  do  I  make  mine  enemy’s  blade, 

Nor  bites  his  sword  or  staff. 

150.  A  fourth  I  know,  if  men  shall  fasten 

Bonds  on  my  bended  legs; 

So  great  is  the  charm  that  forth  I  may  go, 
The  fetters  spring  from  my  feet, 

Broken  the  bonds  from  my  hands. 

15 1.  A  fifth  I  know,  if  I  see  from  afar 

An  arrow  fly  ’gainst  the  folk; 

It  flies  not  so  swift  that  I  stop  it  not, 

If  ever  my  eyes  behold  it. 

152.  A  sixth  I  know,  if  harm  one  seeks 

With  a  sapling’s  roots  to  send  me ; 

The  hero  himself  who  wreaks  his  hate 
Shall  taste  the  ill  ere  I. 

153.  A  seventh  I  know,  if  I  see  in  flames 

The  hall  o’er  my  comrades’  heads; 

It  burns  not  so  wide  that  I  will  not  quench  it, 
I  know  that  song  to  sing. 


148.  Second ,  etc.,  appear  in  the  manuscript  as  Roman  numer¬ 
als.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap  after  line  2. 

152.  The  sending  of  a  root  with  runes  written  thereon  was 
an  excellent  way  of  causing  death.  So  died  the  Icelandic  hero 
Grettir  the  Strong. 


164] 


Hovamol 


154.  An  eighth  I  know,  that  is  to  all 

Of  greatest  good  to  learn; 

When  hatred  grows  among  heroes’  sons, 

I  soon  can  set  it  right. 

155.  A  ninth  I  know,  if  need  there  comes 

To  shelter  my  ship  on  the  flood; 

The  wind  I  calm  upon  the  waves, 

And  the  sea  I  put  to  sleep. 

156.  A  tenth  I  know,  what  time  I  see 

House-riders  flying  on  high; 

So  can  I  work  that  wildly  they  go, 

Showing  their  true  shapes, 

Hence  to  their  own  homes. 

157.  An  eleventh  I  know,  if  needs  I  must  lead 

To  the  fight  my  long-loved  friends; 

I  sing  in  the  shields,  and  in  strength  they  go 
Whole  to  the  field  of  fight, 

Whole  from  the  field  of  fight, 

And  whole  they  come  thence  home. 

158.  A  twelfth  I  know,  if  high  on  a  tree 

I  see  a  hanged  man  swing  ; 


156.  House-riders:  witches,  who  ride  by  night  on  the  roofs  of 
houses,  generally  in  the  form  of  wild  beasts.  Possibly  one  of  the 
last  two  lines  is  spurious. 

157.  The  last  line  looks  like  an  unwarranted  addition,  and 
line  4  may  likewise  be  spurious. 

158.  Lines  4-5  are  probably  expanded  from  a  single  line. 

[65] 


Poetic  Edda 


So  do  I  write  and  color  the  runes 
That  forth  he  fares, 

And  to  me  talks. 

159.  A  thirteenth  I  know,  if  a  thane  full  young 

With  water  I  sprinkle  well; 

He  shall  not  fall,  though  he  fares  mid  the  host, 
Nor  sink  beneath  the  swords. 

160.  A  fourteenth  I  know,  if  fain  I  would  name 

To  men  the  mighty  gods; 

All  know  I  well  of  the  gods  and  elves, — 

Few  be  the  fools  know  this. 

1 61.  A  fifteenth  I  know,  that  before  the  doors 

Of  Delling  sang  Thjothrörir  the  dwarf; 

Might  he  sang  for  the  gods,  and  glory  for  elves, 
And  wisdom  for  Hroptatyr  wise. 

162.  A  sixteenth  I  know,  if  I  seek  delight 

To  win  from  a  maiden  wise; 

The  mind  I  turn  of  the  white-armed  maid, 
And  thus  change  all  her  thoughts. 


159.  The  sprinkling  of  a  child  with  water  was  an  established 
custom  long  before  Christianity  brought  its  conception  of 
baptism. 

161.  This  stanza,  according  to  Mullenhoif,  was  the  original 
conclusion  of  the  poem,  the  phrase  “a  fifteenth”  being  inserted 
only  after  stanzas  162-165  had  crept  in.  Delling :  a  seldom  men¬ 
tioned  god  who  married  Not  (Night).  Their  son  was  Dag  (Day). 
Thjoíhrörir:  not  mentioned  elsewhere.  Hroptatyr :  Othin. 

[66] 


Hovamol 


163.  A  seventeenth  I  know,  so  that  seldom  shall  go 
A  maiden  young  from  me ; 


164.  Long  these  songs  thou  shalt,  Loddfafnir, 

Seek  in  vain  to  sing; 

Yet  good  it  were  if  thou  mightest  get  them, 
Well,  if  thou  wouldst  them  learn, 

Help,  if  thou  hadst  them. 

165.  An  eighteenth  I  know,  that  ne’er  will  I  tell 

To  maiden  or  wife  of  man, — 

The  best  is  what  none  but  one’s  self  doth  know, 
So  comes  the  end  of  the  songs, — 

Save  only  to  her  in  whose  arms  I  lie, 

Or  who  else  my  sister  is. 


163.  Some  editors  have  combined  these  two  lines  with  stanza 

164.  Others  have  assumed  that  the  gap  follows  the  first  half-line, 
making  “so  that — from  me”  the  end  of  the  stanza. 

164.  This  stanza  is  almost  certainly  an  interpolation,  and 
seems  to  have  been  introduced  after  the  list  of  charms  and  the 
Loddfafnismol  (stanzas  111-138)  were  combined  in  a  single 
poem,  for  there  is  no  other  apparent  excuse  for  the  reference  to 
Loddfafnir  at  this  point.  The  words  “if  thou  mightest  get  them” 
are  a  conjectural  emendation. 

165.  This  stanza  is  almost  totally  obscure.  The  third  and 
fourth  lines  look  like  interpolations. 

[67] 


VAFTHRUTHNISMOL 

The  Ballad  of  V afthruthnir 

Introductory  Note 

The  V afthruthnismol  follows  the  Hovamol  in  the  Codex 
Regius.  From  stanza  20  on  it  is  also  included  in  the  Arna- 
magnœan  Codex,  the  first  part  evidently  having  appeared  on  a 
leaf  now  lost.  Snorri  quotes  eight  stanzas  of  it  in  the  Prose  Edda, 
and  in  his  prose  text  closely  paraphrases  many  others. 

The  poem  is  wholly  in  dialogue  form  except  for  a  single 
narrative  stanza  (stanza  5).  After  a  brief  introductory  discus¬ 
sion  between  Othin  and  his  wife,  Frigg,  concerning  the  reputed 
wisdom  of  the  giant  Vafthruthnir,  Othin,  always  in  quest  of 
wisdom,  seeks  out  the  giant,  calling  himself  Gagnrath.  The  giant 
immediately  insists  that  they  shall  demonstrate  which  is  the 
wiser  of  the  two,  and  propounds  four  questions  (stanzas  n,  13, 
15,  and  17),  each  of  which  Othin  answers.  It  is  then  the  god’s 
turn  to  ask,  and  he  begins  with  a  series  of  twelve  numbered 
questions  regarding  the  origins  and  past  history  of  life.  These 
Vafthruthnir  answers,  and  Othin  asks  five  more  questions, 
this  time  referring  to  what  is  to  follow  the  destruction  of  the 
gods,  the  last  one  asking  the  name  of  his  own  slayer.  Again 
Vafthruthnir  answers,  and  Othin  finally  propounds  the  unanswer¬ 
able  question:  “What  spake  Othin  himself  in  the  ears  of  his  son, 
ere  in  the  bale-fire  he  burned?”  Vafthruthnir,  recognizing  his 
questioner  as  Othin  himself,  admits  his  inferiority  in  wisdom, 
and  so  the  contest  ends. 

The  whole  poem  is  essentially  encyclopaedic  in  character,  and 
thus  was  particularly  useful  to  Snorri  in  his  preparation  of  the 
Prose  Edda.  The  encyclopaedic  poem  with  a  slight  narrative 
outline  seems  to  have  been  exceedingly  popular;  the  Grimnismol 
and  the  much  later  Alvissmol  represent  different  phases  of  the 
same  type.  The  V afthruthnismol  and  Grimnismol  together,  in¬ 
deed,  constitute  a  fairly  complete  dictionary  of  Norse  mythology. 
There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  probable  date  of  the 
V afthruthnismol,  but  it  appears  to  belong  to  about  the  same 
period  as  the  Voluspo:  in  other  words,  the  middle  of  the  tenth 
century.  While  there  may  be  a  few  interpolated  passages  in  the 
poem  as  we  now  have  it,  it  is  clearly  a  united  whole,  and  evi¬ 
dently  in  relatively  good  condition. 

[68] 


Vafthruthnismol 


Othin  spake: 

1.  “Counsel  me,  Frigg,  for  I  long  to  fare, 

And  Vafthruthnir  fain  would  find; 

In  wisdom  old  with  the  giant  wise 
Myself  would  I  seek  to  match.” 

Frigg  spake: 

2.  “Heerfather  here  at  home  would  I  keep, 

Where  the  gods  together  dwell ; 

Amid  all  the  giants  an  equal  in  might 
To  Vafthruthnir  know  I  none.” 

Othin  spake: 

3.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  from  the  gods; 

And  fain  would  I  know  how  Vafthruthnir  now 
Lives  in  his  lofty  hall.” 

Frigg  spake: 

4.  “Safe  mayst  thou  go,  safe  come  again, 

And  safe  be  the  way  thou  wendest ! 

Father  of  men,  let  thy  mind  be  keen 
When  speech  with  the  giant  thou  seekest.” 

5.  The  wisdom  then  of  the  giant  wise 

1.  The  phrases  “Othin  spake,”  “Frigg  spake,”  etc.,  appear 
in  abbreviated  form  in  both  manuscripts.  Frigg:  Othin’s  wife; 
cf.  Voluspo,  34  and  note.  Vafthruthnir  (“the  Mighty  in  Rid¬ 
dles”)  :  nothing  is  known  of  this  giant  beyond  what  is  told  in  this 
poem. 

2.  Heerfather  (“Father  of  the  Host”)  :  Othin. 

5.  This  single  narrative  stanza  is  presumably  a  later  interpo- 

[69] 


Poetic  Edda 


Forth  did  he  fare  to  try ; 

He  found  the  hall  of  the  father  of  Im, 

And  in  forthwith  went  Ygg. 

Othin  spake: 

6.  “Vafthruthnir,  hail!  to  thy  hall  am  I  come, 

For  thyself  I  fain  would  see ; 

And  first  would  I  ask  if  wise  thou  art, 

Or,  giant,  all  wisdom  hast  won.’’ 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

7.  “Who  is  the  man  that  speaks  to  me, 

Here  in  my  lofty  hall? 

Forth  from  our  dwelling  thou  never  shalt  fare, 
Unless  wiser  than  I  thou  art.” 

Othin  spake: 

8.  “Gagnrath  they  call  me,  and  thirsty  I  come 

From  a  journey  hard  to  thy  hall; 

Welcome  I  look  for,  for  long  have  I  fared, 
And  gentle  greeting,  giant.” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

9.  “Why  standest  thou  there  on  the  floor  whilst  thou 

speakest  ? 

A  seat  shalt  thou  have  in  my  hall; 


lation.  Im:  the  name  appears  to  be  corrupt,  but  we  know  nothing 
of  any  son  of  Vafthruthnir.  Ygg  (“the  Terrible”)  :  Othin. 

8.  Gagnrath  (“the  Gain-Counsellor”)  :  Othin  on  his  travels 
always  assumes  a  name  other  than  his  own. 

[70] 


Vafthruthnismol 


Then  soon  shall  we  know  whose  knowledge  is 
more, 

The  guest’s  or  the  sage’s  gray.” 

Othin  spake: 

10.  “If  a  poor  man  reaches  the  home  of  the  rich, 

Let  him  wisely  speak  or  be  still; 

For  to  him  who  speaks  with  the  hard  of  heart 
Will  chattering  ever  work  ill.” 

V afthruthnir  spake: 

11.  “Speak  forth  now,  Gagnrath,  if  there  from  the 

floor 

Thou  wouldst  thy  wisdom  make  known : 

What  name  has  the  steed  that  each  morn  anew 
The  day  for  mankind  doth  draw?” 

Othin  spake: 

12.  “Skinfaxi  is  he,  the  steed  who  for  men 

The  glittering  day  doth  draw; 

The  best  of  horses  to  heroes  he  seems, 

And  brightly  his  mane  doth  burn.” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

13.  “Speak  forth  now,  Gagnrath,  if  there  from  the 

floor 


10.  This  stanza  sounds  very  much  like  many  of  those  in  the 
first  part  of  the  Hovamol,  and  may  have  been  introduced  here 
from  some  such  source. 

12.  Skinfaxi:  “Shining-Mane.” 

[71] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thou  wouldst  thy  wisdom  make  known : 

What  name  has  the  steed  that  from  East  anew 
Brings  night  for  the  noble  gods?” 

Othin  spake: 

14.  “Hrimfaxi  name  they  the  steed  that  anew 

Brings  night  for  the  noble  gods; 

Each  morning  foam  from  his  bit  there  falls, 

And  thence  come  the  dews  in  the  dales.” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

15.  “Speak  forth  now,  Gagnrath,  if  there  from  the 

floor 

Thou  wouldst  thy  wisdom  make  known: 

What  name  has  the  river  that  ’twixt  the  realms 
Of  the  gods  and  the  giants  goes?” 

Othin  spake: 

16.  “Ifing  is  the  river  that  ’twixt  the  realms 

Of  the  gods  and  the  giants  goes; 

For  all  time  ever  open  it  flows, 

No  ice  on  the  river  there  is.” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

17.  “Speak  forth  now,  Gagnrath,  if  there  from  the 

floor 


13.  Here,  and  in  general  throughout  the  poem,  the  two-line 
introductory  formulae  are  abbreviated  in  the  manuscripts. 

14.  Hrimfaxi:  “Frosty-Mane.” 

16.  Ifing:  there  is  no  other  reference  to  this  river,  which 
never  freezes,  so  that  the  giants  cannot  cross  it. 

[72] 


Vafthruthnismol 


Thou  wouldst  thy  wisdom  make  known : 

What  name  has  the  field  where  in  fight  shall  meet 
Surt  and  the  gracious  gods?” 

Othin  spake: 

1 8.  “Vigrith  is  the  field  where  in 

Surt  and  the  gracious  gods; 

A  hundred  miles  each  way  does 
And  so  are  its  boundaries  set.” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

19.  “Wise  art  thou,  guest !  To  my  bench  shalt  thou  go, 

In  our  seats  let  us  speak  together ; 

Here  in  the  hall  our  heads,  O  guest, 

Shall  we  wager  our  wisdom  upon.” 

Othin  spake: 

20.  “First  answer  me  well,  if  thy  wisdom  avails, 

And  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

In  earliest  time  whence  came  the  earth, 

Or  the  sky,  thou  giant  sage  ?” 


17.  Surt:  the  ruler  of  the  fire-world  (Muspellsheim) ,  who 
comes  to  attack  the  gods  in  the  last  battle;  cf.  Voluspo,  52. 

18.  Vigrith:  “the  Field  of  Battle.”  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza. 
A  hundred  miles:  a  general  phrase  for  a  vast  distance. 

19.  With  this  stanza  Vafthruthnir,  sufficiently  impressed  with 
his  guest’s  wisdom  to  invite  him  to  share  his  own  seat,  resigns 
the  questioning  to  Othin. 

20.  The  fragmentary  version  of  this  poem  in  the  Arna- 
magnaan  Codex  begins  in  the  middle  of  the  first  line  of  this 
stanza. 


fight  shall  meet 
it  measure, 


[73] 


Poetic  Edda 


Vafthruthnir  spake: 

21.  “Out  of  Ymir’s  flesh  was  fashioned  the  earth, 

And  the  mountains  were  made  of  his  bones; 

The  sky  from  the  frost-cold  giant’s  skull, 

And  the  ocean  out  of  his  blood.” 

Othin  spake: 

22.  “Next  answer  me  well,  if  thy  wisdom  avails, 

And  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

Whence  came  the  moon,  o’er  the  world  of  men 
That  fares,  and  the  flaming  sun?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

23.  “Mundilferi  is  he  who  begat  the  moon, 

And  fathered  the  flaming  sun; 

The  round  of  heaven  each  day  they  run, 

To  tell  the  time  for  men.” 

Othin  spake: 

24.  “Third  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

Whence  came  the  day,  o’er  mankind  that  fares, 
Or  night  with  the  narrowing  moon?” 


21.  Ymir:  the  giant  out  of  whose  body  the  gods  made  the 
world;  cf.  Voluspo,  3  and  note. 

22.  In  this  and  in  Othin’s  following  questions,  both  manu¬ 
scripts  replace  the  words  “next,”  “third,”  “fourth,”  etc.,  by 
Roman  numerals. 

23.  Mundilferi  (“the  Turner”?):  known  only  as  the  father 
of  Mani  (the  Moon)  and  Sol  (the  Sun).  Note  that,  curiously 

[74] 


Vafthruthnismol 


Vafthruthnir  spake: 

25.  “The  father  of  day  is  Delling  called, 

And  the  night  was  begotten  by  Nor; 

Full  moon  and  old  by  the  gods  were  fashioned, 
To  tell  the  time  for  men.” 

Othin  spake: 

26.  “Fourth  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

Whence  did  winter  come,  or  the  summer  warm, 
First  with  the  gracious  gods?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

27.  “Vindsval  he  was  who  was  winter’s  father, 

And  Svosuth  summer  begat;” 


enough,  Mani  is  the  boy  and  Sol  the  girl.  According  to  Snorri, 
Sol  drove  the  horses  of  the  sun,  and  Mani  those  of  the  moon, 
for  the  gods,  indignant  that  they  should  have  been  given  such 
imposing  names,  took  them  from  their  father  to  perform  these 
tasks.  Cf.  Grimnismol,  37. 

25.  Delling  (“the  Dayspring”?  Probably  another  form  of 
the  name,  Dogling,  meaning  “Son  of  the  Dew”  is  more  correct)  : 
the  husband  of  Not  (Night)  ;  their  son  was  Dag  (Day)  ;  cf. 
Hovamol,  161.  Nor:  Snorri  calls  the  father  of  Night  Norvi  or 
Narfi,  and  puts  him  among  the  giants.  Lines  3-4:  cf.  Voluspo,  6. 

27.  Neither  the  Regius  nor  the  Arnamagnœan  Codex  indi¬ 
cates  a  lacuna.  Most  editors  have  filled  out  the  stanza  with  two 
lines  from  late  paper  manuscripts:  “And  both  of  these  shall 
ever  be,  /  Till  the  gods  to  destruction  go.”  Bugge  ingeniously  para¬ 
phrases  Snorri’s  prose:  “VindsvaPs  father  was  Vosuth  called, 
/  And  rough  is  all  his  race.”  Vindsval:  “the  Wind-Cold,”  also 
called  Vindljoni,  “the  Wind-Man.”  Svosuth:  “the  Gentle.” 

[75] 


Poetic  Edda 


Othin  spake: 

28.  “Fifth  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

What  giant  first  was  fashioned  of  old, 

And  the  eldest  of  Ymir’s  kin?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

29.  “Winters  unmeasured  ere  earth  was  made 

Was  the  birth  of  Bergelmir; 

Thruthgelmir’s  son  was  the  giant  strong, 

And  Aurgelmir’s  grandson  of  old.” 

Othin  spake: 

30.  “Sixth  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

Whence  did  Aurgelmir  come  with  the  giants’  kin, 
Long  since,  thou  giant  sage?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

31.  “Down  from  Elivagar  did  venom  drop, 

And  waxed  till  a  giant  it  was; 

28.  Ymir’s  kin:  the  giants. 

29.  Bergelmir :  when  the  gods  slew  Ymir  in  order  to  make  the 
world  out  of  his  body,  so  much  blood  flowed  from  him  that  all 
the  frost-giants  were  drowned  except  Bergelmir  and  his  wife, 
who  escaped  in  a  boat;  cf.  stanza  35.  Of  T hruthgelmir  (“the 
Mightily  Burning”)  we  know  nothing,  but  Aurgelmir  was  the 
frost-giants’  name  for  Ymir  himself.  Thus  Ymir  was  the  first 
of  the  giants,  and  so  Othin’s  question  is  answered. 

31.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza,  and  the  last  two  lines  are  taken 
from  his  version,  as  both  of  the  manuscripts  omit  them.  Elivagar 
(“Stormy  Waves”)  :  Mogk  suggests  that  this  river  may  have 
been  the  Milky  Way.  At  any  rate,  the  venom  carried  in  its  waters 

[76] 


Vafthruthnismol 


And  thence  arose  our  giants’  race, 

And  thus  so  fierce  are  we  found.” 

Othin  spake: 

32.  “Seventh  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

How  begat  he  children,  the  giant  grim, 

Who  never  a  giantess  knew?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake : 

33.  “They  say  ’neath  the  arms  of  the  giant  of  ice 

Grew  man-child  and  maid  together; 

And  foot  with  foot  did  the  wise  one  fashion 
A  son  that  six  heads  bore.” 

Othin  spake: 

34.  “Eighth  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

What  farthest  back  dost  thou  bear  in  mind  ? 

For  wide  is  thy  wisdom,  giant!” 


froze  into  ice-banks  over  Ginnunga-gap  (the  “yawning  gap”  re“ 
ferred  to  in  Voluspo,  3),  and  then  dripped  down  to  make  the 
giant  Ymir. 

33.  Snorri  gives,  without  materially  elaborating  on  it,  the 
same  account  of  how  Ymir’s  son  and  daughter  were  born  under 
his  left  arm,  and  how  his  feet  together  created  a  son.  That 
this  offspring  should  have  had  six  heads  is  nothing  out  of  the 
ordinary,  for  various  giants  had  more  than  the  normal  number, 
and  Hymir’s  mother  is  credited  with  a  little  matter  of  nine  hun¬ 
dred  heads;  cf.  Hymiskvitha,  8.  Of  the  career  of  Ymir’s  six¬ 
headed  son  we  know  nothing;  he  may  have  been  the  Thruthgel- 
mir  of  stanza  29. 


[77] 


Poetic  Edda 


Vafthruthnir  spake: 

35.  “Winters  unmeasured  ere  earth  was  made 

Was  the  birth  of  Bergelmir; 

This  first  knew  I  well,  when  the  giant  wise 
In  a  boat  of  old  was  borne.” 

Othin  spake: 

36.  “Ninth  answer  me  well,  if  wise  thou  art  called, 

If  thou  knowest  it,  Vafthruthnir,  now: 

Whence  comes  the  wind  that  fares  o’er  the  waves, 
Yet  never  itself  is  seen?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

37.  “In  an  eagle’s  guise  at  the  end  of  heaven 

Hræsvelg  sits,  they  say; 

And  from  his  wings  does  the  wind  come  forth 
To  move  o’er  the  world  of  men.” 

Othin  spake: 

38.  “Tenth  answer  me  now,  if  thou  knowest  all 

The  fate  that  is  fixed  for  the  gods: 


35.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Bergelmir:  on  him  and  his  boat 
cf.  stanza  29  and  note. 

37.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Hrcesvelg  (“the  Corpse-Eater”) : 
on  this  giant  in  eagle’s  form  cf.  Voluspo,  50,  and  Skirnismol,  27. 

38.  With  this  stanza  the  question-formula  changes,  and 
Othin’s  questions  from  this  point  on  concern  more  or  less  directly 
the  great  final  struggle.  Line  4  is  presumably  spurious.  Njorth: 
on  Njorth  and  the  Wanes,  who  gave  him  as  a  hostage  to  the 
gods  at  the  end  of  their  war,  cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note. 

[78] 


Vafthruthnismol 


Whence  came  up  Njorth  to  the  kin  of  the  gods, — 
(Rich  in  temples  and  shrines  he  rules, — ) 
Though  of  gods  he  was  never  begot  ?” 

Vciftliruthnir  spake: 

39.  “In  the  home  of  the  Wanes  did  the  wise  ones 

create  him, 

And  gave  him  as  pledge  to  the  gods; 

At  the  fall  of  the  world  shall  he  fare  once  more 
Home  to  the  Wanes  so  wise.” 

Othin  spake: 

40.  “Eleventh  answer  me  well,  . 


What  men .  in  .....  .  home 

Each  day  to  fight  go  forth?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

41.  “The  heroes  all  in  Othin’s  hall 
Each  day  to  fight  go  forth; 

40.  In  both  manuscripts,  apparently  through  the  carelessness 
of  some  older  copyist,  stanzas  40  and  41  are  run  together:  “Elev¬ 
enth  answer  me  well,  what  men  in  the  home  mightily  battle  each 
day?  They  fell  each  other,  and  fare  from  the  fight  all  healed 
full  soon  to  sit.’’  Luckily  Snorri  quotes  stanza  41  in  full,  and 
the  translation  is  from  his  version.  Stanza  40  should  probably  run 
something  like  this:  “Eleventh  answer  me  well,  if  thou  knowest 
all  /  The  fate  that  is  fixed  for  the  gods:  /  What  men  are 
they  who  in  Othin’s  home  /  Each  day  to  fight  go  forth  ?” 

41.  The  heroes:  those  brought  to  Valhall  by  the  Valkyries. 
After  the  day’s  fighting  they  are  healed  of  their  wounds  and  all 
feast  together. 


[79] 


Poetic  Edda 


They  fell  each  other,  and  fare  from  the  fight 
All  healed  full  soon  to  sit.” 

Othin  spake: 

42.  “Twelfth  answer  me  now  how  all  thou  knowest 

Of  the  fate  that  is  fixed  for  the  gods; 

Of  the  runes  of  the  gods  and  the  giants’  race 
The  truth  indeed  dost  thou  tell, 

(And  wide  is  thy  wisdom,  giant!)” 

V afthruthnir  spake: 

43.  “Of  the  runes  of  the  gods  and  the  giants’  race 

The  truth  indeed  can  I  tell, 

(For  to  every  world  have  I  won;) 

To  nine  worlds  came  I,  to  Niflhel  beneath, 

The  home  where  dead  men  dwell.” 

Othin  spake: 

44.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  of  the  gods: 

What  shall  live  of  mankind  when  at  last  there 
comes 

The  mighty  winter  to  men?” 

V  afthruthnir  spake: 

45.  “In  Hoddmimir’s  wood  shall  hide  themselves 

Lif  and  Lifthrasir  then; 

43.  Nine  worlds:  cf.  Voluspo,  2.  Niflhel:  “Dark-Hell.” 

44.  The  mighty  winter:  Before  the  final  destruction  three 
winters  follow  one  another  with  no  intervening  summers. 

45.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Hoddmimir’s  wood:  probably 

[80] 


Vafthruthnismol 


The  morning  dews  for  meat  shall  they  have, 
Such  food  shall  men  then  find.” 

Othin  spake: 

46.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  of  the  gods: 

Whence  comes  the  sun  to  the  smooth  sky  back, 
When  Fenrir  has  snatched  it  forth?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

47.  “A  daughter  bright  Alfrothul  bears 

Ere  Fenrir  snatches  her  forth; 

Her  mother’s  paths  shall  the  maiden  tread 
When  the  gods  to  death  have  gone.” 

Othin  spake: 

48.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  of  the  gods: 

What  maidens  are  they,  so  wise  of  mind, 
That  forth  o’er  the  sea  shall  fare  ?” 


this  is  the  ash-tree  Yggdrasil,  which  is  sometimes  referred  to  as 
“Mimir’s  Tree,”  because  Mimir  waters  it  from  his  well;  cf. 
Voluspo,  27  and  note,  and  Svipdagsmol,  30  and  note.  Hoddmimir 
is  presumably  another  name  for  Mimir.  Lif  (“Life”)  and 
Lifthrasir  (“Sturdy  of  Life”?)  :  nothing  further  is  known  of  this 
pair,  from  whom  the  new  race  of  men  is  to  spring. 

46.  Fenrir:  there  appears  to  be  a  confusion  between  the  wolf 
Fenrir  (cf.  Voluspo,  39  and  note)  and  his  son,  the  wolf  Skoll, 
who  steals  the  sun  (cf.  Voluspo,  40  and  note). 

47.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Alfrothul  (“the  Elf-Beam”)  : 
the  sun. 


[81] 


Poetic  Edda 


Vafthruthnir  spake : 

49.  “O’er  Mogthrasir’s  hill  shall  the  maidens  pass, 

And  three  are  their  throngs  that  come ; 

They  all  shall  protect  the  dwellers  on  earth, 
Though  they  come  of  the  giants’  kin.” 

Othin  spake: 

50.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  of  the  gods: 

Who  then  shall  rule  the  realm  of  the  gods, 

When  the  fires  of  Surt  have  sunk?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

51.  “In  the  gods’  home  Vithar  and  Vali  shall  dwell, 

When  the  fires  of  Surt  have  sunk ; 

Mothi  and  Magni  shall  Mjollnir  have 
When  Vingnir  falls  in  fight.” 

Othin  spake: 

52.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  of  the  gods: 


49.  Mogthrasir  (“Desiring  Sons”) :  not  mentioned  elsewhere 
in  the  Eddie  poems,  or  by  Snorri.  The  maidens:  apparently 
Norns,  like  the  “giant-maids”  in  Voluspo,  8.  These  Norns,  how¬ 
ever,  are  kindly  to  men. 

50.  Surt:  cf.  Voluspo,  52  and  note. 

51.  Vithar:  a  son  of  Othin,  who  slays  the  wolf  Fenrir;  cf. 
Voluspo,  54  and  note.  Vali:  the  son  whom  Othin  begot  to  avenge 
Baldr’s  death;  cf.  Voluspo,  33  and  note.  Mothi  (“Wrath”)  and 
Magni  (“Might”)  :  the  sons  of  the  god  Thor,  who  after  his 
death  inherit  his  famous  hammer,  Mjollnir.  Concerning  this 
hammer  cf.  especially  T  hrymskvitha,  passim.  Vingnir  (“the 

[82] 


Vafthruthnismol 


What  shall  bring  the  doom  of  death  to  Othin, 
When  the  gods  to  destruction  go?” 


Vafthruthnir  spake: 

53.  “The  wolf  shall  fell  the  father  of  men, 

And  this  shall  Vithar  avenge ; 

The  terrible  jaws  shall  he  tear  apart, 

And  so  the  wolf  shall  he  slay.” 

Othin  spake: 

54.  “Much  have  I  fared,  much  have  I  found, 

Much  have  I  got  from  the  gods : 

What  spake  Othin  himself  in  the  ears  of  his  son, 
Ere  in  the  bale-fire  he  burned?” 

Vafthruthnir  spake: 

55.  “No  man  can  tell  what  in  olden  time 

Thou  spak’st  in  the  ears  of  thy  son ; 

With  fated  mouth  the  fall  of  the  gods 
And  mine  olden  tales  have  I  told  ; 

With  Othin  in  knowledge  now  have  I  striven, 
And  ever  the  wiser  thou  art.” 

Hurler”)  :  Thor.  Concerning  his  death  cf.  Voluspo,  56.  This 
stanza  is  quoted  by  Snorri. 

53.  The  wolf:  Fenrir;  cf.  Voluspo,  53  and  54. 

54.  His  son:  Baldr.  Bugge  changes  lines  3-4  to  run:  “What 
did  Othin  speak  in  the  ear  of  Baldr,  /  When  to  the  bale-fire 
they  bore  him?”  For  Baldr’s  death  cf.  Voluspo,  32  and  note.  The 
question  is,  of  course,  unanswerable  save  by  Othin  himself,  and  so 
the  giant  at  last  recognizes  his  guest. 

55.  Fated:  in  stanza  19  Vafthruthnir  was  rash  enough  to 
wager  his  head  against  his  guest’s  on  the  outcome  of  the  contest 
of  wisdom,  so  he  knows  that  his  defeat  means  his  death. 

[83] 


GRIMNISMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Grimnir 

Introductory  Note 

The  Grimnismol  follows  the  Vafthruthnismol  in  the  Codex 
Regius  and  is  also  found  complete  in  the  Arnamagncean  Codex, 
where  also  it  follows  the  Vafthruthnismol.  Snorri  quotes  over 
twenty  of  its  stanzas. 

Like  the  preceding  poem,  the  Grimnismol  is  largely  encyclo¬ 
pedic  in  nature,  and  consists  chiefly  of  proper  names,  the  last 
forty-seven  stanzas  containing  no  less  than  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  of  these.  It  is  not,  however,  in  dialogue  form.  As 
Miillenhoff  pointed  out,  there  is  underneath  the  catalogue  of 
mythological  names  a  consecutive  and  thoroughly  dramatic  story. 
Othin,  concealed  under  the  name  of  Grimnir,  is  through  an  error 
tortured  by  King  Geirröth.  Bound  between  two  blazing  fires,  he 
begins  to  display  his  wisdom  for  the  benefit  of  the  king’s  little  son, 
Agnar,  who  has  been  kind  to  him.  Gradually  he  works  up  to  the 
great  final  moment,  when  he  declares  his  true  name,  or  rather 
names,  to  the  terrified  Geirröth,  and  the  latter  falls  on  his  sword 
and  is  killed. 

For  much  of  this  story  we  do  not  have  to  depend  on  guess¬ 
work,  for  in  both  manuscripts  the  poem  itself  is  preceded  by  a 
prose  narrative  of  considerable  length,  and  concluded  by  a  brief 
prose  statement  of  the  manner  of  Geirröth’s  death.  These  prose 
notes,  of  which  there  are  many  in  the  Eddie  manuscripts,  are  of 
considerable  interest  to  the  student  of  early  literary  forms.  Pre¬ 
sumably  they  were  written  by  the  compiler  to  whom  we  owe  the 
Eddie  collection,  who  felt  that  the  poems  needed  such  annotation 
in  order  to  be  clear.  Linguistic  evidence  shows  that  they  were 
written  in  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century,  for  they  preserve 
none  of  the  older  word-forms  which  help  us  to  date  many  of  the 
poems  two  or  three  hundred  years  earlier. 

Without  discussing  in  detail  the  problems  suggested  by  these 
prose  passages,  it  is  worth  noting,  first,  that  the  Eddie  poems 
contain  relatively  few  stanzas  of  truly  narrative  verse;  and 
second,  that  all  of  them  are  based  on  narratives  which  must 
have  been  more  or  less  familiar  to  the  hearers  of  the  poems. 
In  other  words,  the  poems  seldom  aimed  to  tell  stories,  although 
most  of  them  followed  a  narrative  sequence  of  ideas.  The  stories 

[84] 


Grimnismol 


themselves  appear  to  have  lived  in  oral  prose  tradition,  just  as 
in  the  case  of  the  sagas;  and  the  prose  notes  of  the  manuscripts, 
in  so  far  as  they  contain  material  not  simply  drawn  from  the 
poems  themselves,  are  relics  of  this  tradition.  The  early  Norse 
poets  rarely  conceived  verse  as  a  suitable  means  for  direct  story¬ 
telling,  and  in  some  of  the  poems  even  the  simplest  action  is  told 
in  prose  “links”  between  dialogue  stanzas. 

The  applications  of  this  fact,  which  has  been  too  often  over¬ 
looked,  are  almost  limitless,  for  it  suggests  a  still  unwritten 
chapter  in  the  history  of  ballad  poetry  and  the  so-called  “pop¬ 
ular”  epic.  It  implies  that  narrative  among  early  peoples  may 
frequently  have  had  a  period  of  prose  existence  before  it  was  made 
into  verse,  and  thus  puts,  for  example,  a  long  series  of  transi¬ 
tional  stages  before  such  a  poem  as  the  Iliad.  In  any  case,  the 
prose  notes  accompanying  the  Eddie  poems  prove  that  in  addition 
to  the  poems  themselves  there  existed  in  the  twelfth  century  a 
considerable  amount  of  narrative  tradition,  presumably  in  prose 
form,  on  which  these  notes  were  based  by  the  compiler. 

Interpolations  in  such  a  poem  as  the  Grimnismol  could  have 
been  made  easily  enough,  and  many  stanzas  have  undoubtedly 
crept  in  from  other  poems,  but  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
poem  are  clearly  marked,  and  presumably  it  has  come  down  to 
us  with  the  same  essential  outline  it  had  when  it  was  composed, 
probably  in  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century. 


King  Hrauthung  had  two  sons:  one  was  called  Agnar, 
and  the  other  Geirröth.  Agnar  was  ten  winters  old,  and 
Geirröth  eight.  Once  they  both  rowed  in  a  boat  with  their 
fishing-gear  to  catch  little  fish;  and  the  wind  drove  them 
out  into  the  sea.  In  the  darkness  of  the  night  they  were 
wrecked  on  the  shore;  and  going  up,  they  found  a  poor 
peasant,  with  whom  they  stayed  through  the  winter.  The 
housewife  took  care  of  Agnar,  and  the  peasant  cared  for 


Prose.  The  texts  of  the  two  manuscripts  differ  in  many  minor 
details.  Hrauthung :  this  mythical  king  is  not  mentioned  else¬ 
where.  Geirröth:  the  manuscripts  spell  his  name  in  various  ways, 

[85] 


Poetic  Edda 


Geirröth,  and  taught  him  wisdom.  In  the  spring  the 
peasant  gave  him  a  boat ;  and  when  the  couple  led  them  to 
the  shore,  the  peasant  spoke  secretly  with  Geirröth.  They 
had  a  fair  wind,  and  came  to  their  father’s  landing-place. 
Geirröth  was  forward  in  the  boat;  he  leaped  up  on  land, 
but  pushed  out  the  boat  and  said,  “Go  thou  now  where 
evil  may  have  thee!”  The  boat  drifted  out  to  sea.  Geir- 
röth,  however,  went  up  to  the  house,  and  was  well  re¬ 
ceived,  but  his  father  was  dead.  Then  Geirröth  was  made 
king,  and  became  a  renowned  man. 

Othin  and  Frigg  sat  in  Hlithskjolf  and  looked  over  all 
the  worlds.  Othin  said :  “Seest  thou  Agnar,  thy  foster¬ 
ling,  how  he  begets  children  with  a  giantess  in  the  cave? 
But  Geirröth,  my  fosterling,  is  a  king,  and  now  rules  over 
his  land.”  Frigg  said:  “He  is  so  miserly  that  he  tortures 
his  guests  if  he  thinks  that  too  many  of  them  come  to  him.” 
Othin  replied  that  this  was  the  greatest  of  lies;  and  they 
made  a  wager  about  this  matter.  Frigg  sent  her  maid¬ 
servant,  Fulla,  to  Geirröth.  She  bade  the  king  beware 
lest  a  magician  who  was  come  thither  to  his  land  should 
bewitch  him,  and  told  this  sign  concerning  him,  that  no 
dog  was  so  fierce  as  to  leap  at  him.  Now  it  was  a  very 
great  slander  that  King  Geirröth  was  not  hospitable;  but 
nevertheless  he  had  them  take  the  man  whom  the  dogs 
would  not  attack.  He  wore  a  dark-blue  mantle  and  called 
himself  Grimnir,  but  said  no  more  about  himself,  though 


Frigg:  Othin’s  wife.  She  and  Othin  nearly  always  disagreed  in 
some  such  way  as  the  one  outlined  in  this  story.  Hlithskjolf 
(“Gate-Shelf”)  :  Othin’s  watch-tower  in  heaven,  whence  he  can 
overlook  all  the  nine  worlds;  cf.  Skirnismol,  introductory  prose. 
Grimnir:  “the  Hooded  One.” 


[86] 


Grimnismol 


he  was  questioned.  The  king  had  him  tortured  to  make 
him  speak,  and  set  him  between  two  fires,  and  he  sat  there 
eight  nights.  King  Geirröth  had  a  son  ten  winters  old, 
and  called  Agnar  after  his  father’s  brother.  Agnar  went 
to  Grimnir,  and  gave  him  a  full  horn  to  drink  from,  and 
said  that  the  king  did  ill  in  letting  him  be  tormented  with¬ 
out  cause.  Grimnir  drank  from  the  horn;  the  fire  had 
come  so  near  that  the  mantle  burned  on  Grimnir’s  back. 
He  spake : 

1.  Hot  art  thou,  fire!  too  fierce  by  far; 

Get  ye  now  gone,  ye  flames ! 

The  mantle  is  burnt,  though  I  bear  it  aloft, 

And  the  fire  scorches  the  fur. 

2.  ’Twixt  the  fires  now  eight  nights  have  I  sat, 

And  no  man  brought  meat  to  me, 

Save  Agnar  alone,  and  alone  shall  rule 

Geirröth’s  son  o’er  the  Goths. 

3.  Hail  to  thee,  Agnar!  for  hailed  thou  art 

By  the  voice  of  Veratyr; 


2.  In  the  original  lines  2  and  4  are  both  too  long  for  the 
meter,  and  thus  the  true  form  of  the  stanza  is  doubtful.  For 
line  4  both  manuscripts  have  “the  land  of  the  Goths”  instead  of 
simply  “the  Goths.”  The  word  “Goths”  apparently  was  applied 
indiscriminately  to  any  South-Germanic  people,  including  the 
Burgundians  as  well  as  the  actual  Goths,  and  thus  here  has  no 
specific  application;  cf.  Gripisspo,  35  and  note. 

[87] 


Poetic  Edda 


For  a  single  drink  shalt  thou  never  receive 
A  greater  gift  as  reward. 

4.  The  land  is  holy  that  lies  hard  by 

The  gods  and  the  elves  together; 

And  Thor  shall  ever  in  Thruthheim  dwell, 

Till  the  gods  to  destruction  go. 

5.  Ydalir  call  they  the  place  where  Ull 

A  hall  for  himself  hath  set ; 

And  Alfheim  the  gods  to  Freyr  once  gave 
As  a  tooth-gift  in  ancient  times. 

6.  A  third  home  is  there,  with  silver  thatched 

By  the  hands  of  the  gracious  gods: 

Valaskjolf  is  it,  in  days  of  old 
Set  by  a  god  for  himself. 

7.  Sökkvabekk  is  the  fourth,  where  cool  waves  flow, 

3.  Veratyr  (“Lord  of  Men”)  :  Othin.  The  “gift”  which  Agnar 
receives  is  Othin’s  mythological  lore. 

4.  Thruthheim  (“the  Place  of  Might”):  the  place  where 
Thor,  the  strongest  of  the  gods,  has  his  hall,  Bilskirnir,  described 
in  stanza  24. 

5.  Ydalir  (“Yew-Dales”)  :  the  home  of  Ull,  the  archer  among 
the  gods,  a  son  of  Thor’s  wife,  Sif,  by  another  marriage.  The 
wood  of  the  yew-tree  was  used  for  bows  in  the  North  just  as  it 
was  long  afterwards  in  England.  Alfheim:  the  home  of  the 
elves.  Freyr:  cf.  Skirnismol,  introductory  prose  and  note.  Tooth- 
gift:  the  custom  of  making  a  present  to  a  child  when  it  cuts  its 
first  tooth  is,  according  to  Vigfusson,  still  in  vogue  in  Iceland. 

6.  Valaskjolf  (“the  Shelf  of  the  Slain”)  :  Othin’s  home,  in 
which  is  his  watch-tower,  Hlithskjolf.  Gering  identifies  this  with 
Valhall,  and  as  that  is  mentioned  in  stanza  8,  he  believes  stanza 
6  to  be  an  interpolation. 


[88] 


Grimnismol 


And  amid  their  murmur  it  stands; 

There  daily  do  Othin  and  Saga  drink 
In  gladness  from  cups  of  gold. 

8.  The  fifth  is  Glathsheim,  and  gold-bright  there 

Stands  Valhall  stretching  wide; 

And  there  does  Othin  each  day  choose 
The  men  who  have  fallen  in  fight. 

9.  Easy  is  it  to  know  for  him  who  to  Othin 

Comes  and  beholds  the  hall; 

Its  rafters  are  spears,  with  shields  is  it  roofed, 

On  its  benches  are  breastplates  strewn. 

10.  Easy  is  it  to  know  for  him  who  to  Othin 

Comes  and  beholds  the  hall ; 

There  hangs  a  wolf  by  the  western  door, 

And  o’er  it  an  eagle  hovers. 

11.  The  sixth  is  Thrvmheim,  where  Thjazi  dwelt, 

The  giant  of  marvelous  might; 

7.  Sökkvabekk  (“the  Sinking  Stream”)  :  of  this  spot  and  of 
Saga,  who  is  said  to  live  there,  little  is  known.  Saga  may  be  an 
hypostasis  of  Frigg,  but  Snorri  calls  her  a  distinct  goddess,  and 
the  name  suggests  some  relation  to  history  or  story-telling. 

8.  Glathsheim  (“the  Place  of  Joy”)  :  Othin’s  home,  the  greatest 
and  most  beautiful  hall  in  the  world.  Valhall  (“Hall  of  the 
Slain”)  :  cf.  Voluspo,  31  and  note.  Valhall  is  not  only  the  hall 
whither  the  slain  heroes  are  brought  by  the  Valkyries,  but  also 
a  favorite  home  of  Othin. 

10.  The  opening  formula  is  abbreviated  in  both  manuscripts. 
A  wolf:  probably  the  wolf  and  the  eagle  were  carved  figures 
above  the  door. 


[89] 


Poetic  Edda 


Now  Skathi  abides,  the  god’s  fair  bride, 

In  the  home  that  her  father  had. 

12.  The  seventh  is  Breithablik;  Baldr  has  there 

For  himself  a  dwelling  set, 

In  the  land  I  know  that  lies  so  fair, 

And  from  evil  fate  is  free. 

13.  Himinbjorg  is  the  eighth,  and  Hcimdall  there 

O’er  men  holds  sway,  it  is  said ; 

In  his  well-built  house  does  the  warder  of  heaven 
The  good  mead  gladly  drink. 

14.  The  ninth  is  Folkvang,  where  Freyja  decrees 


11.  T hrymheim  (“the  Home  of  Clamor”)  :  on  this  mountain 
the  giant  Thjazi  built  his  home.  The  god,  or  rather  Wane, 
Njorth  (cf.  Voluspo,  21,  note)  married  Thjazi’s  daughter, 
Skathi.  She  wished  to  live  in  her  father’s  hall  among  the  moun¬ 
tains,  while  Njorth  loved  his  home,  Noatun,  by  the  sea.  They 
agreed  to  compromise  by  spending  nine  nights  at  Thrymheim 
and  then  three  at  Noatun,  but  neither  could  endure  the  surround¬ 
ings  of  the  other’s  home,  so  Skathi  returned  to  Thrymheim,  while 
Njorth  stayed  at  Noatun.  Snorri  quotes  stanzas  11-15. 

12.  Breithablik  (“Wide-Shining”)  :  the  house  in  heaven,  free 
from  everything  unclean,  in  which  Baldr  (cf.  Voluspo,  32,  note), 
the  fairest  and  best  of  the  gods,  lived. 

13.  Himinbjorg  (“Heaven’s  Cliifs”)  :  the  dwelling  at  the  end 
of  the  bridge  Bifrost  (the  rainbow),  where  Heimdall  (cf. 
Voluspo,  27)  keeps  watch  against  the  coming  of  the  giants.  In 
this  stanza  the  two  functions  of  Heimdall — as  father  of  man¬ 
kind  (cf.  Voluspo,  1  and  note,  and  Rigsthula,  introductory  prose 
and  note)  and  as  warder  of  the  gods — seem  both  to  be  men¬ 
tioned,  but  the  second  line  in  the  manuscripts  is  apparently  in 
bad  shape,  and  in  the  editions  is  more  or  less  conjectural. 

14.  Folkvang  (“Field  of  the  Folk”)  :  here  is  situated  Freyja’s 

[90] 


Grimnismol 


Who  shall  have  seats  in  the  hall; 

The  half  of  the  dead  each  day  does  she  choose, 
And  half  does  Othin  have. 


15.  The  tenth  is  Glitnir;  its  pillars  are  gold, 

And  its  roof  with  silver  is  set ; 

There  most  of  his  days  does  Forseti  dwell, 

And  sets  all  strife  at  end. 

16.  The  eleventh  is  Noatun;  there  has  Njorth 

For  himself  a  dwelling  set; 

The  sinless  ruler  of  men  there  sits 
In  his  temple  timbered  high. 

17.  Filled  with  growing  trees  and  high-standing  grass 

Is  Vithi,  Vithar’s  land ; 

hall,  Sessrymnir  (“Rich  in  Seats”).  Freyja,  the  sister  of  Freyr, 
is  the  fairest  of  the  goddesses,  and  the  most  kindly  disposed  to 
mankind,  especially  to  lovers.  Half  of  the  dead:  Mogk  has  made 
it  clear  that  Freyja  represents  a  confusion  between  two  originally 
distinct  divinities:  the  wife  of  Othin  (Frigg)  and  the  northern 
goddess  of  love.  This  passage  appears  to  have  in  mind  her 
attributes  as  Othin’s  wife.  Snorri  has  this  same  confusion,  but 
there  is  no  reason  why  the  Freyja  who  was  Freyr’s  sister  should 
share  the  slain  with  Othin. 

15.  Glitnir  (“the  Shining”)  :  the  home  of  Forseti,  a  god  of 
whom  we  know  nothing  beyond  what  Snorri  tells  us:  “Forseti  is 
the  son  of  Baldr  and  Nanna,  daughter  of  Nep.  All  those  who 
come  to  him  with  hard  cases  to  settle  go  away  satisfied;  he  is 
the  best  judge  among  gods  and  men.” 

16.  Noatun  (“Ships’-Haven”)  :  the  home  of  Njorth,  who  calms 
the  waves;  cf.  stanza  11  and  Voluspo,  21. 

17.  Vithi:  this  land  is  not  mentioned  elsewhere.  Vithar 
avenged  his  father,  Othin,  by  slaying  the  wolf  Fenrir. 

[91] 


Poetic  Edda 


But  there  did  the  son  from  his  steed  leap  down, 
When  his  father  he  fain  would  avenge. 

1 8.  In  Eldhrimnir  Andhrimnir  cooks 

Sæhrimnir’s  seething  flesh, — 

The  best  of  food,  but  few  men  know 
On  what  fare  the  warriors  feast. 

19.  Freki  and  Geri  does  Heerfather  feed, 

The  far-famed  fighter  of  old : 

But  on  wine  alone  does  the  weapon-decked  god, 
Othin,  forever  live. 

20.  O’er  Mithgarth  Hugin  and  Munin  both 

Each  day  set  forth  to  fly ; 

For  Hugin  I  fear  lest  he  come  not  home, 

But  for  Munin  my  care  is  more. 


18.  Stanzas  18-20  appear  also  in  Snorri’s  Edda.  Very  possibly 
they  are  an  interpolation  here.  Eldhrimnir  (“Sooty  with  Fire”)  : 
the  great  kettle  in  Valhall,  wherein  the  gods’  cook,  Andhrimnir 
(“The  Sooty-Faced”)  daily  cooks  the  flesh  of  the  boar  Scehrimnir 
(“The  Blackened”).  His  flesh  suffices  for  all  the  heroes  there 
gathered,  and  each  evening  he  becomes  whole  again,  to  be  cooked 
the  next  morning. 

19.  Freki  (“The  Greedy”)  and  Geri  (“The  Ravenous”)  :  the 
two  wolves  who  sit  by  Othin’s  side  at  the  feast,  and  to  whom 
he  gives  all  the  food  set  before  him,  since  wine  is  food  and 
drink  alike  for  him.  Heerfather :  Othin. 

20.  Mithgarth  (“The  Middle  Home”)  :  the  earth.  Hugin 
(“Thought”)  and  Munin  (“Memory”)  :  the  two  ravens  who  sit 
on  Othin’s  shoulders,  and  fly  forth  daily  to  bring  him  news  of 
the  world. 


[92] 


Grimnismol 


21.  Loud  roars  Thund,  and  Thjothvitnir’s  fish 

Joyously  fares  in  the  flood; 

Hard  does  it  seem  to  the  host  of  the  slain 
To  wade  the  torrent  wild. 

22.  There  Valgrind  stands,  the  sacred  gate, 

And  behind  are  the  holy  doors; 

Old  is  the  gate,  but  few  there  are 
Who  can  tell  how  it  tightly  is  locked. 

23.  Five  hundred  doors  and  forty  there  are, 

I  ween,  in  Valhail’s  walls; 

Eight  hundred  fighters  through  one  door  fare 
When  to  war  with  the  wolf  they  go. 

24.  Five  hundred  rooms  and  forty  there  are 

I  ween,  in  Bilskirnir  built; 


21.  Thund  (“The  Swollen”  or  “The  Roaring”)  :  the  river 
surrounding  Valhall.  Thjothvitnir’s  fish:  presumably  the  sun, 
which  was  caught  by  the  wolf  Skoll  (cf.  Voluspo,  40),  Thjoth- 
vitnir  meaning  “the  mighty  wolf.”  Such  a  phrase,  characteristic 
of  all  Skaldic  poetry,  is  rather  rare  in  the  Edda.  The  last  two 
lines  refer  to  the  attack  on  Valhall  by  the  people  of  Hel ;  cf. 
Voluspo,  51. 

22.  Valgrind  (“The  Death-Gate”)  :  the  outer  gate  of  Valhall; 
cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  68  and  note. 

23.  This  and  the  following  stanza  stand  in  reversed  order  in 
Regius.  Snorri  quotes  stanza  23  as  a  proof  of  the  vast  size  of 
Valhall.  The  last  two  lines  refer  to  the  final  battle  with  Fenrir 
and  the  other  enemies. 

24.  This  stanza  is  almost  certainly  an  interpolation,  brought 
in  through  a  confusion  of  the  first  two  lines  with  those  of  stanza 
23.  Its  description  of  Thor’s  house,  Bilskirnir  (cf.  stanza  4  and 

[93] 


Poetic  Edda 


Of  all  the  homes  whose  roofs  I  beheld, 
My  son’s  the  greatest  meseemed. 


25.  Heithrun  is  the  goat  who  stands  by  Heerfather’s 

hall, 

And  the  branches  of  Lærath  she  bites ; 

The  pitcher  she  fills  with  the  fair,  clear  mead, 
Ne’er  fails  the  foaming  drink. 

26.  Eikthyrnir  is  the  hart  who  stands  by  Heerfather’s 

hall 

And  the  branches  of  Lærath  he  bites ; 

From  his  horns  a  stream  into  Hvergelmir  drops, 
Thence  all  the  rivers  run. 

note)  has  nothing  to  do  with  that  of  Valhall.  Snorri  quotes  the 
stanza  in  his  account  of  Thor. 

25.  The  first  line  in  the  original  is,  as  indicated  in  the  trans¬ 
lation,  too  long,  and  various  attempts  to  amend  it  have  been 
made.  Heithrun:  the  she-goat  who  lives  on  the  twigs  of  the  tree 
Lcerath  (presumably  the  ash  Yggdrasil),  and  daily  gives  mead 
which,  like  the  boar’s  flesh,  suffices  for  all  the  heroes  in  Valhall. 
In  Snorri’s  Edda  Gangleri  foolishly  asks  whether  the  heroes 
drink  water,  whereto  Har  replies,  “Do  you  imagine  that  Othin 
invites  kings  and  earls  and  other  noble  men,  and  then  gives 
them  water  to  drink?” 

26.  Eikthyrnir  (“The  Oak-Thorned,”  i.e.,  with  antlers, 
“thorns,”  like  an  oak)  :  this  animal  presumably  represents  the 
clouds.  The  first  line,  like  that  of  stanza  25,  is  too  long  in  the 
original.  Lcerath:  cf.  stanza  25,  note.  Hvergelmir:  according  to 
Snorri,  this  spring,  “the  Cauldron-Roaring,”  was  in  the  midst 
of  Niflheim,  the  world  of  darkness  and  the  dead,  beneath  the 
third  root  of  the  ash  Yggdrasil.  Snorri  gives  a  list  of  the  rivers 
flowing  thence  nearly  identical  with  the  one  in  the  poem. 

[94] 


Grimnismol 


27.  Sith  and  Vith,  Sækin  and  Ækin, 

Svol  and  Fimbulthul,  Gunnthro  and  Fjorm, 
Rin  and  Rinnandi, 

Gipul  and  Gopul,  Gomul  and  Geirvimul, 
That  flow  through  the  fields  of  the  gods; 
Thyn  and  Vin,  Thol  and  Hoi, 

Groth  and  Gunnthorin. 


28.  Vino  is  one,  Vegsvin  another, 

And  Thjothnuma  a  third; 

Nyt  and  Not,  Non  and  Hron, 

Slith  and  Hrith,  Sylg  and  Ylg, 

Vith  and  Von,  Vond  and  Strond, 
Gjol  and  Leipt,  that  go  among  men, 
And  hence  they  fall  to  Hel. 


27.  The  entire  passage  from  stanza  27  through  stanza  35  is 
confused.  The  whole  thing  may  well  be  an  interpolation.  Bugge 
calls  stanzas  27-30  an  interpolation,  and  editors  who  have  ac¬ 
cepted  the  passage  as  a  whole  have  rejected  various  lines.  The 
spelling  of  the  names  of  the  rivers  varies  greatly  in  the  manu¬ 
scripts  and  editions.  It  is  needless  here  to  point  out  the  many 
attempted  emendations  of  this  list.  For  a  passage  presenting 
similar  problems,  cf.  Voluspo,  10-16.  Snorri  virtually  quotes 
stanzas  27-28  in  his  prose,  though  not  consecutively.  The  name 
Rin,  in  line  3,  is  identical  with  that  for  the  River  Rhine  which 
appears  frequently  in  the  hero  poems,  but  the  similarity  is  doubt¬ 
less  purely  accidental. 

28.  Slith  may  possibly  be  the  same  river  as  that  mentioned  in 
Voluspo,  36,  as  flowing  through  the  giants’  land.  Leipt:  in  Hel- 
gakvitha  Hundingsbana  II,  29,  this  river  is  mentioned  as  one 
by  which  a  solemn  oath  is  sworn,  and  Gering  points  the  parallel 
to  the  significance  of  the  Styx  among  the  Greeks.  The  other 
rivers  here  named  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  poems. 

[95] 


Poetic  Edda 


29.  Kormt  and  Ormt  and  the  Kerlaugs  twain 

Shall  Thor  each  day  wade  through, 

(When  dooms  to  give  he  forth  shall  go 
To  the  ash-tree  Yggdrasil;) 

For  heaven’s  bridge  burns  all  in  flame, 

And  the  sacred  waters  seethe. 

30.  Glath  and  Gyllir,  Gler  and  Skeithbrimir, 

Silfrintopp  and  Sinir, 

Gisl  and  Falhofnir,  Golltopp  and  Lettfeti, 
On  these  steeds  the  gods  shall  go 
When  dooms  to  give  each  day  they  ride 
To  the  ash-tree  Yggdrasil. 


29.  This  stanza  looks  as  though  it  originally  had  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  two  preceding  it.  Snorri  quotes  it  in  his  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  three  roots  of  Yggdrasil,  and  the  three  springs  be¬ 
neath  them.  “The  third  root  of  the  ash  stands  in  heaven  and 
beneath  this  root  is  a  spring  which  is  very  holy,  and  is  called 
Urth’s  well.”  (Cf.  Voluspo,  19)  “There  the  gods  have  their 
judgment-seat,  and  thither  they  ride  each  day  over  Bifrost, 
which  is  also  called  the  Gods’  Bridge.”  Thor  has  to  go  on  foot 
in  the  last  days  of  the  destruction,  when  the  bridge  is  burning. 
Another  interpretation,  however,  is  that  when  Thor  leaves  the 
heavens  (i.e.,  when  a  thunder-storm  is  over)  the  rainbow-bridge 
becomes  hot  in  the  sun.  Nothing  more  is  known  of  the  rivers 
named  in  this  stanza.  Lines  3-4  are  almost  certainly  interpolated 
from  stanza  30. 

30.  This  stanza,  again  possibly  an  interpolation,  is  closely 
paraphrased  by  Snorri  following  the  passage  quoted  in  the 
previous  note.  Glath  (“Joyous”)  :  identified  in  the  Skaldskaparmal 
with  Skinfaxi,  the  horse  of  day;  cf.  Vafthruthnismol,  12.  Gyllir: 
“Golden.”  Gler:  “Shining.”  Skeithbrimir :  “Swift-Going.”  Sil¬ 
frintopp:  “Silver-Topped.”  Sinir:  “Sinewy.”  Gisl:  the  mean¬ 
ing  is  doubtful ;  Gering  suggests  “Gleaming.”  Falhofnir: 

[96] 


Grimnismol 


31.  Three  roots  there  are  that  three  ways  run 

’Neath  the  ash-tree  Yggdrasil; 

’Neath  the  first  lives  Hel,  ’neath  the  second  the 
frost-giants, 

’Neath  the  last  are  the  lands  of  men. 

32.  Ratatosk  is  the  squirrel  who  there  shall  run 

On  the  ash-tree  Yggdrasil; 

From  above  the  words  of  the  eagle  he  bears, 

And  tells  them  to  Nithhogg  beneath. 

33.  Four  harts  there  are,  that  the  highest  twigs 


“Hollow-Hoofed.”  Golltopp  (“Gold-Topped”)  :  this  horse  be¬ 
longed  to  Heimdall  (cf.  Voluspo,  1  and  46).  It  is  noteworthy 
that  gold  was  one  of  the  attributes  of  Heimdall’s  belongings, 
and,  because  his  teeth  were  of  gold,  he  was  also  called  Gullin- 
tanni  (“Gold-Toothed”).  Lettfeti:  “Light-Feet.”  Othin’s  eight¬ 
footed  horse,  Sleipnir,  is  not  mentioned  in  this  list. 

31.  The  first  of  these  roots  is  the  one  referred  to  in  stanza  26; 
the  second  in  stanza  29  (cf.  notes).  Of  the  third  root  there  is 
nothing  noteworthy  recorded.  After  this  stanza  it  is  more  than 
possible  that  one  has  been  lost,  paraphrased  in  the  prose  of 
Snorri’s  Edda  thus:  “An  eagle  sits  in  the  branches  of  the  ash- 
tree,  and  he  is  very  wise;  and  between  his  eyes  sits  the  hawk 
who  is  called  Vethrfolnir.” 

32.  Ratatosk  (“The  Swift-Tusked”)  :  concerning  this  squirrel, 
the  Prose  Edda  has  to  add  only  that  he  runs  up  and  down  the 
tree  conveying  the  abusive  language  of  the  eagle  (see  note  on 
stanza  31)  and  the  dragon  Nithhogg  (cf.  Voluspo,  39  and  note) 
to  each  other.  The  hypothesis  that  Ratatosk  “represents  the 
undying  hatred  between  the  sustaining  and  the  destroying 
elements — the  gods  and  the  giants,”  seems  a  trifle  far-fetched. 

33.  Stanzas  33-34  may  well  be  interpolated,  and  are  cer¬ 
tainly  in  bad  shape  in  the  Mss.  Bugge  points  out  that  they  are 
probably  of  later  origin  than  those  surrounding  them.  Snorri 

[97] 


Poetic  Edda 


Nibble  with  necks  bent  back; 
Dain  and  Dvalin,  .... 
Duneyr  and  Dyrathror. 


34.  More  serpents  there  are  beneath  the  ash 
Than  an  unwise  ape  would  think ; 

Goin  and  Moin,  Grafvitnir’s  sons, 
Grabak  and  Grafvolluth, 

Ofnir  and  Svafnir  shall  ever,  methinks, 
Gnaw  at  the  twigs  of  the  tree. 

35*  Yggdrasil’s  ash  great  evil  suffers, 

Far  more  than  men  do  know; 


closely  paraphrases  stanza  33,  but  without  elaboration,  and 
nothing  further  is  known  of  the  four  harts.  It  may  be  guessed, 
however,  that  they  are  a  late  multiplication  of  the  single  hart 
mentioned  in  stanza  26,  just  as  the  list  of  dragons  in  stanza  34 
seems  to  have  been  expanded  out  of  Nithhogg,  the  only  authentic 
dragon  under  the  root  of  the  ash.  Highest  twigs:  a  guess;  the 
Mss.  words  are  baffling.  Something  has  apparently  been  lost 
from  lines  3-4,  but  there  is  no  clue  as  to  its  nature. 

34.  Cf.  note  on  previous  stanza.  Nothing  further  is  known  of 
any  of  the  serpents  here  listed,  and  the  meanings  of  many  of  the 
names  are  conjectural.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Editors  have 
altered  it  in  various  ways  in  an  attempt  to  regularize  the  meter. 
Goin  and  Moin:  meaning  obscure.  Grafvitnir :  “The  Gnawing 
Wolf.”  Grabak:  “Gray-Back.”  Grafvolluth:  “The  Field- 
Gnawer.”  Ofnir  and  Svafnir  (“The  Bewilderer”  and  “The 
Sleep-Bringer”)  :  it  is  noteworthy  that  in  stanza  54  Othin  gives 
himself  these  two  names. 

35.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza,  which  concludes  the  passage, 
beginning  with  stanza  25,  describing  Yggdrasil.  If  we  assume 
that  stanzas  27-34  are  later  interpolations — possibly  excepting 
32 — this  section  of  the  poem  reads  clearly  enough. 

[98] 


Grimnismol 


The  hart  bites  its  top,  its  trunk  is  rotting, 
And  Nithhogg  gnaws  beneath. 

36.  Hrist  and  Mist  bring  the  horn  at  my  will, 

Skeggjold  and  Skogul; 

Hild  and  Thruth,  Hlok  and  Herfjotur, 
Gol  and  Geironul, 

Randgrith  and  Rathgrith  and  Reginleif 
Beer  to  the  warriors  bring. 

37.  Arvak  and  Alsvith  up  shall  drag 

Weary  the  weight  of  the  sun; 

But  an  iron  cool  have  the  kindly  gods 
Of  yore  set  under  their  yokes. 


36.  Snorri  quotes  this  list  of  the  Valkyries,  concerning  whom 
cf.  Voluspo,  31  and  note,  where  a  different  list  of  names  is  given. 
Hrist:  “Shaker.”  Mist :  “Mist.”  Skeggjold:  “Ax-Time.”  Skogul: 
“Raging”  (?).  Hild:  “Warrior.”  Thruth:  “Might”  Hlok: 
“Shrieking.”  Herfjotur:  “Host-Fetter.”  Gol:  “Screaming.” 
Geironul:  “Spear-Bearer.”  Randgrith:  “Shield-Bearer.”  Rath¬ 
grith:  Gering  guesses  “Plan-Destroyer.”  Reginleif:  “Gods’-Kin.” 
Manuscripts  and  editions  vary  greatly  in  the  spelling  of  these 
names,  and  hence  in  their  significance. 

37.  Mtillenhoff  suspects  stanzas  37-41  to  have  been  inter¬ 
polated,  and  Edzardi  thinks  they  may  have  come  from  the 
Vafthruthnismol.  Snorri  closely  paraphrases  stanzas  37-39,  and 
quotes  40-41.  Arvak  (“Early  Waker”)  and  Alsvith  (“All- 
Swift”)  :  the  horses  of  the  sun,  named  also  in  Sigrdrifumol,  15. 
According  to  Snorri:  “There  was  a  man  called  Mundilfari,  who 
had  two  children;  they  were  so  fair  and  lovely  that  he  called  his 
son  Mani  and  his  daughter  Sol.  The  gods  were  angry  at  this 
presumption,  and  took  the  children  and  set  them  up  in  heaven; 
and  they  bade  Sol  drive  the  horses  that  drew  the  car  of  the  sun 

[99] 


Poetic  Edda 


38.  In  front  of  the  sun  does  Svalin  stand, 

The  shield  for  the  shining  god ; 

Mountains  and  sea  would  be  set  in  flames 
If  it  fell  from  before  the  sun. 

39.  Skoll  is  the  wolf  that  to  Ironwood 

Follows  the  glittering  god, 

And  the  son  of  Hrothvitnir,  Hati,  awaits 
The  burning  bride  of  heaven. 

40.  Out  of  Ymir’s  flesh  was  fashioned  the  earth, 

And  the  ocean  out  of  his  blood ; 

Of  his  bones  the  hills,  of  his  hair  the  trees, 
Of  his  skull  the  heavens  high. 


which  the  gods  had  made  to  light  the  world  from  the  sparks 
which  flew  out  of  Muspellsheim.  The  horses  were  called  Alsvith 
and  Arvak,  and  under  their  yokes  the  gods  set  two  bellows  to 
cool  them,  and  in  some  songs  these  are  called  ‘the  cold  iron.’  ” 

38.  Svalin  (“The  Cooling”)  :  the  only  other  reference  to  this 
shield  is  in  Sigrdrifumol,  15. 

39.  Skoll  and  Hati:  the  wolves  that  devour  respectively  the 
sun  and  moon.  The  latter  is  the  son  of  Hrothvitnir  (“The 
Mighty  Wolf,”  i.  e.  Fenrir)  ;  cf.  Voluspo,  40,  and  V  afthruth¬ 
nismol,  46-47,  in  which  Fenrir  appears  as  the  thief.  Ironwood: 
a  conjectural  emendation  of  an  obscure  phrase;  cf.  Voluspo,  40. 

40.  This  and  the  following  stanza  are  quoted  by  Snorri.  They 
seem  to  have  come  from  a  different  source  from  the  others  of  this 
poem;  Edzardi  suggests  an  older  version  of  the  V afthruthnismol. 
This  stanza  is  closely  parallel  to  V afthruthnismol,  21,  which  see, 
as  also  Voluspo,  3.  Snorri,  following  this  account,  has  a  few  de¬ 
tails  to  add.  The  stones  were  made  out  of  Ymir’s  teeth  and  such 
of  his  bones  as  were  broken.  Mithgarth  was  a  mountain-wall 
made  out  of  Ymir’s  eyebrows,  and  set  around  the  earth  because 
of  the  enmity  of  the  giants. 


[  100] 


Grimnismol 


41.  Mithgarth  the  gods  from  his  eyebrows  made, 

And  set  for  the  sons  of  men ; 

And  out  of  his  brain  the  baleful  clouds 
They  made  to  move  on  high. 

42.  His  the  favor  of  Ull  and  of  all  the  gods 

Who  first  in  the  flames  will  reach ; 

For  the  house  can  be  seen  by  the  sons  of  the 
gods 

If  the  kettle  aside  were  cast. 

43.  In  days  of  old  did  Ivaldi’s  sons 

Skithblathnir  fashion  fair, 

The  best  of  ships  for  the  bright  god  Freyr, 

The  noble  son  of  Njorth. 


42.  With  this  stanza  Othin  gets  back  to  his  immediate  situa¬ 
tion,  bound  as  he  is  between  two  fires.  He  calls  down  a  blessing 
on  the  man  who  will  reach  into  the  fire  and  pull  aside  the  great 
kettle  which,  in  Icelandic  houses,  hung  directly  under  the  smoke- 
vent  in  the  roof,  and  thus  kept  any  one  above  from  looking  down 
into  the  interior.  On  Ull,  the  archer-god,  cf.  stanza  5  and  note. 
He  is  specified  here  apparently  for  no  better  reason  than  that  his 
name  fits  the  initial-rhyme. 

43.  This  and  the  following  stanza  are  certainly  interpolated, 
for  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  context,  and  stanza  45  con¬ 
tinues  the  dramatic  conclusion  of  the  poem  begun  in  stanza  42. 
This  stanza  is  quoted  by  Snorri.  Ivaldi  (“The  Mighty”)  :  he  is 
known  only  as  the  father  of  the  craftsmen-dwarfs  who  made  not 
only  the  ship  Skithblathnir,  but  also  Othin’s  spear  Gungnir,  and 
the  golden  hair  for  Thor’s  wife,  Sif,  after  Loki  had  maliciously 
cut  her  own  hair  off.  Skithblathnir :  this  ship  (“Wooden-Bladed”) 
always  had  a  fair  wind,  whenever  the  sail  was  set;  it  could  be 
folded  up  at  will  and  put  in  the  pocket.  Freyr:  concerning  him 
and  his  father,  see  Voluspo,  21,  note,  and  Skirnismol,  introductory 
prose  and  note. 


[101] 


Poetic  Edda 


44.  The  best  of  trees  must  Yggdrasil  be, 

Skithblathnir  best  of  boats; 

Of  all  the  gods  is  Othin  the  greatest, 

And  Sleipnir  the  best  of  steeds; 

Bilrost  of  bridges,  Bragi  of  skalds, 

Hobrok  of  hawks,  and  Garm  of  hounds. 

45.  To  the  race  of  the  gods  my  face  have  I  raised, 

And  the  wished-for  aid  have  I  waked ; 

For  to  all  the  gods  has  the  message  gone 
That  sit  in  Ægir’s  seats, 

That  drink  within  Ægir’s  doors. 

44.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Like  stanza  43  an  almost  certain 
interpolation,  it  was  probably  drawn  in  by  the  reference  to 
Skithblathnir  in  the  stanza  interpolated  earlier.  It  is  presumably 
in  faulty  condition.  One  Ms.  has  after  the  fifth  line  half  of  a 
sixth, — “Brimir  of  swords.”  Yggdrasil:  cf.  stanzas  25-35.  Skith¬ 
blathnir:  cf.  stanza  43,  note.  Sleipnir:  Othin’s  eight-legged  horse, 
one  of  Loki’s  numerous  progeny,  borne  by  him  to  the  stallion 
Svathilfari.  This  stallion  belonged  to  the  giant  who  built  a 
fortress  for  the  gods,  and  came  so  near  to  finishing  it,  with 
Svathilfari’s  aid,  as  to  make  the  gods  fear  he  would  win  his 
promised  reward — Freyja  and  the  sun  and  moon.  To  delay  the 
work,  Loki  turned  himself  into  a  mare,  whereupon  the  stallion 
ran  away,  and  the  giant  failed  to  complete  his  task  within  the 
stipulated  time.  Bilrost:  probably  another  form  of  Bifrost 
(which  Snorri  has  in  his  version  of  the  stanza),  on  which  cf. 
stanza  29.  Bragi:  the  god  of  poetry.  He  is  one  of  the  later  figures 
among  the  gods,  and  is  mentioned  only  three  times  in  the  poems 
of  the  Edda.  In  Snorri’s  Edda,  however,  he  is  of  great  importance. 
His  wife  is  Ithun,  goddess  of  youth.  Perhaps  the  Norwegian  skald 
Bragi  Boddason,  the  oldest  recorded  skaldic  poet,  had  been  tra¬ 
ditionally  apotheosized  as  early  as  the  tenth  century.  Hobrok: 
nothing  further  is  known  of  him.  Garm:  cf.  Volnspo,  44. 

45.  With  this  stanza  the  narrative  current  of  the  poem  is 
resumed.  Ægir:  the  sea-god;  cf.  Lokasenna,  introductory  prose. 

[102] 


Grimnismol 


46.  Grim  is  my  name,  Gangleri  am  I, 

Herjan  and  Hjalmberi, 

Thekk  and  Thrithi,  Thuth  and  Uth, 

Helblindi  and  Hor; 

47.  Sath  and  Svipal  and  Sanngetal, 

Herteit  and  Hnikar, 

Bileyg,  Baleyg,  Bolverk,  Fjolnir, 

Grim  and  Grimnir,  Glapsvith,  Fjolsvith. 

48.  Sithhott,  Sithskegg,  Sigfather,  Hnikuth, 


46.  Concerning  the  condition  of  stanzas  46-50,  quoted  by 
Snorri,  nothing  definite  can  be  said.  Lines  and  entire  stanzas  of 
this  “catalogue”  sort  undoubtedly  came  and  went  with  great 
freedom  all  through  the  period  of  oral  transmission.  Many  of  the 
names  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere,  and  often  their  significance 
is  sheer  guesswork.  As  in  nearly  every  episode  Othin  appeared 
in  disguise,  the  number  of  his  names  was  necessarily  almost 
limitless.  Grim :  “The  Hooded.”  Gangleri:  “The  Wanderer.” 
Herjan:  “The  Ruler.”  Hjalmberi:  “The  Helmet-Bearer.”  Thekk: 
“The  Much-Loved.”  Thrithi:  “The  Third”  (in  Snorri’s  Edda  the 
stories  are  all  told  in  the  form  of  answers  to  questions,  the 
speakers  being  Har,  Jafnhar  and  Thrithi.  Just  what  this  tri¬ 
partite  form  of  Othin  signifies  has  been  the  source  of  endless 
debate.  Probably  this  line  is  late  enough  to  betray  the  somewhat 
muddled  influence  of  early  Christianity.)  Thuth  and  Uth:  both 
names  defy  guesswork.  Helblindi:  “Hel-Blinder”  (two  manu¬ 
scripts  have  Herblindi — “Host-Blinder”).  Hor:  “The  High  One.” 

47.  Sath:  “The  Truthful.”  Svipal:  “The  Changing.”  Sannge¬ 
tal:  “The  Truth-Teller.”  Herteit:  “Glad  of  the  Host.”  Hnikar: 
“The  Overthrower.”  Bileyg:  “The  Shifty-Eyed.”  Baleyg:  “The 
Flaming-Eyed.”  Bolverk:  “Doer  of  Ill”  (cf.  Hovamol,  104  and 
note).  Fjolnir:  “The  Many-Shaped.”  Grimnir:  “The  Hooded.” 
Glapsvith :  “Swift  in  Deceit.”  Fjolsvith:  “Wide  of  Wisdom.” 

48.  Sithhott:  “With  Broad  Hat.”  Sithskegg:  “Long-Bearded.” 

[103] 


Poetic  Edda 


Allfather,  Valfather,  Atrith,  Farmatyr: 
A  single  name  have  I  never  had 
Since  first  among  men  I  fared. 

49.  Grimnir  they  call  me  in  Geirröth’s  hall, 
With  Asmund  Jalk  am  I; 

Kjalar  I  was  when  I  went  in  a  sledge, 

At  the  council  Thror  am  I  called, 

As  Vithur  I  fare  to  the  fight; 

Oski,  Biflindi,  Jafnhor  and  Omi, 
Gondlir  and  Harbarth  midst  gods. 


50.  I  deceived  the  giant  Sokkmimir  old 
As  Svithur  and  Svithrir  of  yore; 

Of  Mithvitnir’s  son  the  slayer  I  was 
When  the  famed  one  found  his  doom. 


Sig father:  “Father  of  Victory.”  Hnikuth:  “Overthrower.”  Val¬ 
father:  “Father  of  the  Slain.”  Atrith:  “The  Rider.”  Farmatyr : 
“Helper  of  Cargoes”  (i.  e.,  god  of  sailors). 

49.  Nothing  is  known  of  Asmund,  of  Othin’s  appearance  as 
Jalk,  or  of  the  occasion  when  he  “went  in  a  sledge”  as  Kjalar 
(“Ruler  of  Keels”?).  Thror  and  Vithur  are  also  of  uncertain 
meaning.  Oski:  “God  of  Wishes.”  Biflindi:  the  manuscripts  vary 
widely  in  the  form  of  this  name.  Jafnhor:  “Equally  High”  (cf. 
note  on  stanza  46).  Omi:  “The  Shouter.”  Gondlir:  “Wand- 
Bearer.”  Harbarth:  “Graybeard”  (cf.  Harbarthsljoth ,  introduc¬ 
tion)  . 

50.  Nothing  further  is  known  of  the  episode  here  mentioned. 
Sokkmimir  is  presumably  Mithvitnir’s  son.  Snorri  quotes  the 
names  Svithur  and  Svithrir,  but  omits  all  the  remainder  of  the 
stanza. 


t  104] 


Grimnismol 


51.  Drunk  art  thou,  Geirröth,  too  much  didst  thou 
drink, 


Much  hast  thou  lost,  for  help  no  more 
From  me  or  my  heroes  thou  hast. 

52.  Small  heed  didst  thou  take  to  all  that  I  told, 

And  false  were  the  words  of  thy  friends; 

For  now  the  sword  of  my  friend  I  see, 

That  waits  all  wet  with  blood. 

53.  Thy  sword-pierced  body  shall  Ygg  have  soon, 

For  thy  life  is  ended  at  last; 

The  maids  are  hostile ;  now  Othin  behold ! 
Now  come  to  me  if  thou  canst! 

54.  Now  am  I  Othin,  Ygg  was  I  once, 

Ere  that  did  they  call  me  Thund ; 

Vak  and  Skilfing,  Vofuth  and  Hroptatyr, 

Gaut  and  Jalk  midst  the  gods; 

Ofnir  and  Svafnir,  and  all,  methinks, 

Are  names  for  none  but  me. 


51.  Again  the  poem  returns  to  the  direct  action,  Othin  address¬ 
ing  the  terrified  Geirröth.  The  manuscripts  show  no  lacuna.  Some 
editors  supply  a  second  line  from  paper  manuscripts:  “Greatly  by 
me  art  beguiled.” 

53.  Ygg:  Othin  (“The  Terrible”).  The  maids:  the  three 
Norns. 

54.  Possibly  out  of  place,  and  probably  more  or  less  corrupt. 
Thund:  “The  Thunderer.”  Vak:  “The  Wakeful.”  Skilfing:  “The 
Shaker.”  Vofuth:  “The  Wanderer.”  Hroptatyr :  “Crier  of  the 
Gods.”  Gaut:  “Father.”  Ofnir  and  Svafnir:  cf.  stanza  34. 

[105] 


Poetic  Edda 


King  Geirröth  sat  and  had  his  sword  on  his  knee,  half 
drawn  from  its  sheath.  But  when  he  heard  that  Othin 
was  come  thither,  then  he  rose  up  and  sought  to  take 
Othin  from  the  fire.  The  sword  slipped  from  his  hand, 
and  fell  with  the  hilt  down.  The  king  stumbled  and  fell 
forward,  and  the  sword  pierced  him  through,  and  slew 
him.  Then  Othin  vanished,  but  Agnar  long  ruled  there 
as  king. 


[106] 


SKIRNISMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Skirnir 


Introductory  Note 

The  Skirnismol  is  found  complete  in  the  Codex  Regius,  and 
through  stanza  27  in  the  Arnamagruean  Codex.  Snorri  quotes  the 
concluding  stanza.  In  Regius  the  poem  is  entitled  “For  Scirnis” 
(“Skirnir’s  Journey”). 

The  Skirnismol  differs  sharply  from  the  poems  preceding  it, 
in  that  it  has  a  distinctly  ballad  quality.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  how¬ 
ever,  its  verse  is  altogether  dialogue,  the  narrative  being  supplied 
in  the  prose  “links,”  concerning  which  cf.  introductory  note  to  the 
Grimnismol.  The  dramatic  effectiveness  and  vivid  characteriza¬ 
tion  of  the  poem  seem  to  connect  it  with  the  Thrymskvitha,  and 
the  two  may  possibly  have  been  put  into  their  present  form  by  the 
same  man.  Bugge’s  guess  that  the  Skirnismol  was  the  work  of 
the  author  of  the  Lokasenna  is  also  possible,  though  it  has  less  to 
support  it. 

Critics  have  generally  agreed  in  dating  the  poem  as  we  now 
have  it  as  early  as  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century;  Finnur 
Jonsson  puts  it  as  early  as  900,  and  claims  it,  as  usual,  for  Nor¬ 
way.  Doubtless  it  was  current  in  Norway,  in  one  form  or  another, 
before  the  first  Icelandic  settlements,  but  his  argument  that  the 
thistle  (stanza  31)  is  not  an  Icelandic  plant  has  little  weight,  for 
such  curse-formulas  must  have  traveled  freely  from  place  to 
place.  In  view  of  the  evidence  pointing  to  a  western  origin  for 
many  or  all  of  the  Eddie  poems,  Jonsson’s  reiterated  “Digtet  er 
sikkert  norsk  og  ikke  islandsk”  is  somewhat  exasperating. 
Wherever  the  Skirnismol  was  composed,  it  has  been  preserved  in 
exceptionally  good  condition,  and  seems  to  be  practically  devoid 
of  interpolations  or  lacunae. 


Freyr,  the  son  of  Njorth,  had  sat  one  day  in  Hlithskjolf, 
and  looked  over  all  the  worlds.  He  looked  into  Jotun- 
heim,  and  saw  there  a  fair  maiden,  as  she  went  from  her 
father’s  house  to  her  bower.  Forthwith  he  felt  a  mighty 

[107] 


Poetic  Edda 


love-sickness.  Skirnir  was  the  name  of  Freyr’s  servant; 
Njorth  bade  him  ask  speech  of  Freyr.  He  said: 

1.  “Go  now,  Skirnir!  and  seek  to  gain 

Speech  from  my  son ; 

And  answer  to  win,  for  whom  the  wise  one 
Is  mightily  moved.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

2.  “Ill  words  do  I  now  await  from  thy  son, 

If  I  seek  to  get  speech  with  him, 

And  answer  to  win,  for  whom  the  wise  one 
Is  mightily  moved.” 

Prose.  Freyr :  concerning  his  father,  Njorth,  and  the  race  of 
the  Wanes  in  general,  cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note.  Snorri  thus  de¬ 
scribes  Njorth’s  family:  “Njorth  begat  two  children  in  Noatun; 
the  son  was  named  Freyr,  and  the  daughter  Freyja;  they  were 
fair  of  aspect  and  mighty.  Freyr  is  the  noblest  of  the  gods;  he 
rules  over  rain  and  sunshine,  and  therewith  the  fruitfulness  of 
the  earth;  it  is  well  to  call  upon  him  for  plenty  and  welfare,  for 
he  rules  over  wealth  for  mankind.  Freyja  is  the  noblest  of  the 
goddesses.  When  she  rides  to  the  fight,  she  has  one-half  of  the 
slain,  and  Othin  has  half.  When  she  goes  on  a  journey,  she 
drives  her  two  cats,  and  sits  in  a  cart.  Love-songs  please  her 
well,  and  it  is  good  to  call  on  her  in  love-matters.”  Hlithskjolf : 
Othin’s  watch-tower;  cf.  Grimnismol,  introductory  prose.  He 
said:  both  manuscripts  have  “Then  Skathi  said:”  (Skathi  was 
Njorth’s  wife),  but  Bugge’s  emendation,  based  on  Snorri’s  ver¬ 
sion,  is  doubtless  correct. 

1.  My  son:  both  manuscripts,  and  many  editors,  have  “our 
son,”  which,  of  course,  goes  with  the  introduction  of  Skathi  in 
the  prose.  As  the  stanza  is  clearly  addressed  to  Skirnir,  the  change 
of  pronouns  seems  justified.  The  same  confusion  occurs  in  stanza 
2,  where  Skirnir  in  the  manuscripts  is  made  to --speak  of  Freyr  as 

[108] 


Skirnismol 


Skirnir  spake: 

3.  “Speak  prithee,  Freyr,  foremost  of  the  gods, 

For  now  I  fain  would  know; 

Why  sittest  thou  here  in  the  wide  halls, 

Days  long,  my  prince,  alone?” 

Freyr  spake: 

4.  “How  shall  I  tell  thee,  thou  hero  young, 

Of  all  my  grief  so  great? 

Though  every  day  the  elfbeam  dawns, 

It  lights  my  longing  never.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

5.  “Thy  longings,  methinks,  are  not  so  large 

That  thou  mayst  not  tell  them  to  me  ; 

Since  in  days  of  yore  we  were  young  together, 
We  two  might  each  other  trust.” 

Freyr  spake: 

6.  “From  Gymir’s  house  I  beheld  go  forth 

A  maiden  dear  to  me ; 

Her  arms  glittered,  and  from  their  gleam 
Shone  all  the  sea  and  sky. 


“your  son”  (plural).  The  plural  pronoun  in  the  original  involves 
a  metrical  error,  which  is  corrected  by  the  emendation. 

4.  Elfbeam:  the  sun,  so  called  because  its  rays  were  fatal  to 
elves  and  dwarfs;  cf.  Alvissmol,  35. 

6.  Gymir:  a  mountain-giant,  husband  of  Aurbotha,  and 
father  of  Gerth,  fairest  among  women.  This  is  all  Snorri  tells  of 
him  in  his  paraphrase  of  the  story. 

7.  Snorri’s  paraphrase  of  the  poem  is  sufficiently  close  so  that 
his  addition  of  another  sentence  to  Freyr’s  speech  makes  it  prob- 

[  109] 


Poetic  Edda 


7.  ‘‘To  me  more  dear  than  in  days  of  old 

Was  ever  maiden  to  man ; 

But  no  one  of  gods  or  elves  will  grant 
That  we  both  together  should  be.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

8.  “Then  give  me  the  horse  that  goes  through  the 

dark 

And  magic  flickering  flames; 

And  the  sword  as  well  that  fights  of  itself 
Against  the  giants  grim.” 

Freyr  spake : 

9.  “The  horse  will  I  give  thee  that  goes  through  the 

dark 

And  magic  flickering  flames, 

And  the  sword  as  well  that  will  fight  of  itself 
If  a  worthy  hero  wields  it.” 


able  that  a  stanza  has  dropped  out  between  7  and  8.  This  has 
been  tentatively  reconstructed,  thus:  “Hither  to  me  shalt  thou 
bring  the  maid,  /  And  home  shalt  thou  lead  her  here,  /  If  her 
father  wills  it  or  wills  it  not,  /  And  good  reward  shalt  thou 
get.”  Finn  Magnusen  detected  the  probable  omission  of  a  stanza 
here  as  early  as  1821. 

8.  The  sword:  Freyr’s  gift  of  his  sword  to  Skirnir  eventually 
proves  fatal,  for  at  the  last  battle,  when  Freyr  is  attacked  by  Beli, 
whom  he  kills  bare-handed,  and  later  when  the  fire-demon,  Surt, 
slays  him  in  turn,  he  is  weaponless;  cf.  Voluspo,  53  and  note. 
Against  the  giants  grim:  the  condition  of  this  line  makes  it  seem 
like  an  error  in  copying,  and  it  is  possible  that  it  should  be  iden¬ 
tical  with  the  fourth  line  of  the  next  stanza. 

[110] 


Skirnismol 


Skirnir  spake  to  the  horse : 

10.  “Dark  is  it  without,  and  I  deem  it  time 

To  fare  through  the  wild  fells, 

(To  fare  through  the  giants’  fastness;) 

We  shall  both  come  back,  or  us  both  together 
The  terrible  giant  will  take.” 

Skirnir  rode  into  Jotunheim  to  Gymir’s  house.  There 
were  fierce  dogs  bound  before  the  gate  of  the  fence  which 
was  around  Gerth’s  hall.  He  rode  to  where  a  herdsman 
sat  on  a  hill,  and  said : 

1 1.  “Tell  me,  herdsman,  sitting  on  the  hill, 

And  watching  all  the  ways, 

How  may  I  win  a  word  with  the  maid 
Past  the  hounds  of  Gymir  here?” 

The  herdsman  spake: 

12.  “Art  thou  doomed  to  die  or  already  dead, 

Thou  horseman  that  ridest  hither? 

Barred  from  speech  shalt  thou  ever  be 
With  Gymir’s  daughter  good.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

13.  “Boldness  is  better  than  plaints  can  be 

For  him  whose  feet  must  fare; 

10.  Some  editors  reject  line  3  as  spurious. 

12.  Line  2  is  in  neither  manuscript,  and  no  gap  is  indicated. 
I  have  followed  Grundtvig’s  conjectural  emendation. 

13.  This  stanza  is  almost  exactly  like  many  in  the  first  part  of 

[111] 


Poetic  Edda 


To  a  destined  day  has  mine  age  been  doomed, 
And  my  life’s  span  thereto  laid.” 

Gerth  spake: 

14.  “What  noise  is  that  which  now  so  loud 

I  hear  within  our  house? 

The  ground  shakes,  and  the  home  of  Gymir 
Around  me  trembles  too.” 

The  Serving -Maid  spake : 

1 5.  “One  stands  without  who  has  leapt  from  his  steed, 

And  lets  his  horse  loose  to  graze ;” 


Gerth  spake: 

16.  “Bid  the  man  come  in,  and  drink  good  mead 
Here  within  our  hall; 

Though  this  I  fear,  that  there  without 
My  brother’s  slayer  stands. 


the  Hovamol,  and  may  well  have  been  a  separate  proverb.  After 
this  stanza  the  scene  shifts  to  the  interior  of  the  house. 

15.  No  gap  indicated  in  either  manuscript.  Bugge  and  Niedner 
have  attempted  emendations,  while  Hildebrand  suggests  that  the 
last  two  lines  of  stanza  14  are  spurious,  14,  1-2,  and  15  thus 
forming  a  single  stanza,  which  seems  doubtful. 

16.  Brother’s  slayer:  perhaps  the  brother  is  Beli,  slain  by 
Freyr;  the  only  other  references  are  in  Voluspo,  53,  and  in 
Snorri’s  paraphrase  of  the  Skirnismol,  which  merely  says  that 
Freyr’s  gift  of  his  sword  to  Skirnir  “was  the  reason  why  he  was 
weaponless  when  he  met  Beli,  and  he  killed  him  bare-handed.” 
Skirnir  himself  seems  never  to  have  killed  anybody. 

[112] 


Skirnismol 


17.  “Art  thou  of  the  elves  or  the  offspring  of  gods, 

Or  of  the  wise  Wanes? 

How  camst  thou  alone  through  the  leaping  flame 
Thus  to  behold  our  home?” 

Skirnir  spake: 

18.  “I  am  not  of  the  elves,  nor  the 

Nor  of  the  wise  Wanes; 

Though  I  came  alone  through 
Thus  to  behold  thy  home. 

19.  “Eleven  apples,  all  of  gold, 

Here  will  I  give  thee,  Gerth, 

To  buy  thy  troth  that  Freyr  shall  be 
Deemed  to  be  dearest  to  you.” 

Gerth  spake: 

20.  “I  will  not  take  at  any  man’s  wish 

These  eleven  apples  ever ; 

Nor  shall  Freyr  and  I  one  dwelling  find 
So  long  as  we  two  live.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

21.  “Then  do  I  bring  thee  the  ring  that  was  burned 

17.  Wise  Wanes:  cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note. 

18.  The  Arnamagncean  Codex  omits  this  stanza. 

19.  Apples:  the  apple  was  the  symbol  of  fruitfulness,  and  also 
of  eternal  youth.  According  to  Snorri,  the  goddess  Ithun  had 
charge  of  the  apples  which  the  gods  ate  whenever  they  felt  them¬ 
selves  growing  old. 


offspring  of  gods, 
the  leaping  flame 


[113] 


Poetic  Edda 


Of  old  with  Othin’s  son  ; 

From  it  do  eight  of  like  weight  fall 
On  every  ninth  night.” 

Gerth  spake: 

22.  “The  ring  I  wish  not,  though  burned  it  was 

Of  old  with  Othin’s  son; 

In  Gymir’s  home  is  no  lack  of  gold 
In  the  wealth  my  father  wields.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

23.  “Seest  thou,  maiden,  this  keen,  bright  sword 

That  I  hold  here  in  my  hand? 

Thy  head  from  thy  neck  shall  I  straightway  hew, 
If  thou  wilt  not  do  my  will.” 

Gerth  spake: 

24.  “For  no  man’s  sake  will  I  ever  suffer 

To  be  thus  moved  by  might; 

But  gladly,  methinks,  will  Gymir  seek 
To  fight  if  he  finds  thee  here.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

25.  “Seest  thou,  maiden,  this  keen,  bright  sword 

That  I  hold  here  in  my  hand  ? 


21.  Ring:  the  ring  Draupnir  (“Dropper”)  was  made  by  the 
dwarfs  for  Othin,  who  laid  it  on  Baldr’s  pyre  when  the  latter’s 
corpse  was  burned  (cf.  Voluspo,  32  and  note,  and  Baldrs  Drau- 
mar ).  Baldr,  however,  sent  the  ring  back  to  Othin  from  hell.  How 
Freyr  obtained  it  is  nowhere  stated.  Andvari’s  ring  (Andvara- 
naut)  had  a  similar  power  of  creating  gold;  cf.  Reginsmol,  prose 

[114] 


Skirnismol 


Before  its  blade  the  old  giant  bends, — 

Thy  father  is  doomed  to  die. 

26.  “I  strike  thee,  maid,  with  my  magic  staff, 

To  tame  thee  to  work  my  will; 

There  shalt  thou  go  where  never  again 
The  sons  of  men  shall  see  thee. 

27.  “On  the  eagle’s  hill  shalt  thou  ever  sit, 

And  gaze  on  the  gates  of  Hel  ; 

More  loathsome  to  thee  than  the  light-hued  snake 
To  men,  shall  thy  meat  become. 

28.  “Fearful  to  see,  if  thou  comest  forth, 

Hrimnir  will  stand  and  stare, 

(Men  will  marvel  at  thee;) 


after  stanza  4  and  note.  Lines  3  and  4  of  this  stanza,  and  the  first 
two  of  stanza  22,  are  missing  in  the  Arnamagnœan  Codex. 

25.  The  first  two  lines  are  abbreviated  in  both  manuscripts. 

26.  With  this  stanza,  bribes  and  threats  having  failed,  Skirnir 
begins  a  curse  which,  by  the  power  of  his  magic  staff,  is  to  fall 
on  Gerth  if  she  refuses  Freyr. 

27.  Eagle’s  hill:  the  hill  at  the  end  of  heaven,  and  conse¬ 
quently  overlooking  hell,  where  the  giant  Hræsvelg  sits  “in  an 
eagle’s  guise,”  and  makes  the  winds  with  his  wings;  cf.  Vaf- 
thruthnismol,  37,  also  Voluspo,  50.  The  second  line  is  faulty  in 
both  manuscripts;  Hildebrand’s  emendation  corrects  the  error, 
but  omits  an  effective  touch;  the  manuscript  line  may  be  rendered 
“And  look  and  hanker  for  hell.”  The  Arnamagnaan  Codex  breaks 
off  with  the  fourth  line  of  this  stanza. 

28.  Hrimnir:  a  frost-giant,  mentioned  elsewhere  only  in 
Hyndluljoth,  33.  Line  3  is  probably  spurious.  W dtchman  of  the 
gods:  Heimdall;  cf.  Voluspo,  46. 

[  115] 


Poetic  Edda 


More  famed  shalt  thou  grow  than  the  watchman 
of  the  gods! 

Peer  forth,  then,  from  thy  prison. 

29.  “Rage  and  longing,  fetters  and  wrath, 

Tears  and  torment  are  thine; 

Where  thou  sittest  down  my  doom  is  on  thee 
Of  heavy  heart 
And  double  dole. 

30.  “In  the  giants’  home  shall  vile  things  harm  thee 

Each  day  with  evil  deeds; 

Grief  shalt  thou  get  instead  of  gladness, 

And  sorrow  to  suffer  with  tears. 

31.  “With  three-headed  giants  thou  shalt  dwell  ever, 

Or  never  know  a  husband  ; 

( Let  longing  grip  thee,  let  wasting  waste  thee, — ) 


29.  Three  nouns  of  doubtful  meaning,  which  I  have  rendered 
rage,  longing,  and  heart  respectively,  make  the  precise  force  of 
this  stanza  obscure.  Niedner  and  Sijmons  mark  the  entire  stanza 
as  interpolated,  and  Jonsson  rejects  line  5. 

30.  In  Regius  and  in  nearly  all  the  editions  the  first  two  lines 
of  this  stanza  are  followed  by  lines  3-5  of  stanza  35.  I  have 
followed  Niedner,  Sijmons,  and  Gering.  The  two  words  here 
translated  vile  things  are  obscure;  Gering  renders  the  phrase 
simply  “Kobolde.” 

31.  The  confusion  noted  as  to  the  preceding  stanza,  and  a 
metrical  error  in  the  third  line,  have  led  to  various  rearrange¬ 
ments  and  emendations;  line  3  certainly  looks  like  an  interpola¬ 
tion.  T hree-headed  giants:  concerning  giants  with  numerous 
heads,  cf.  Vafthruthnismol,  33,  and  Hymiskvitha,  8. 

[116] 


Skirnismol 


Be  like  to  the  thistle  that  in  the  loft 
Was  cast  and  there  was  crushed. 

32.  “I  go  to  the  wood,  and  to  the  wet  forest, 
To  win  a  magic  wand; 


I  won  a  magic  wand. 

33.  “Othin  grows  angry,  angered  is  the  best  of  the 

gods, 

Freyr  shall  be  thy  foe, 

Most  evil  maid,  who  the  magic  wrath 
Of  gods  hast  got  for  thyself. 

34.  “Give  heed,  frost-rulers,  hear  it,  giants, 

Sons  of  Suttung, 

And  gods,  ye  too, 

How  I  forbid  and  how  I  ban 
The  meeting  of  men  with  the  maid, 

(The  joy  of  men  with  the  maid.) 


32.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  Niedner  makes  the 
line  here  given  as  4  the  first  half  of  line  3,  and  fills  out  the 
stanza  thus:  “with  which  I  will  tame  you,  /  Maid,  to  work  my 
will.”  The  whole  stanza  seems  to  be  either  interpolated  or  out  of 
place;  it  would  fit  better  after  stanza  25. 

33.  Jonsson  marks  this  stanza  as  interpolated.  The  word 
translated  most  evil  is  another  case  of  guesswork. 

34.  Most  editors  reject  line  3  as  spurious,  and  some  also  reject 
line  6.  Lines  2  and  3  may  have  been  expanded  out  of  a  single  line 
running  approximately  “Ye  gods  and  Suttung’s  sons.”  Suttung; 
concerning  this  giant  cf.  Hovamol,  104  and  note. 

[117] 


Poetic  Edda 


35.  “Hrimgrimnir  is  he,  the  giant  who  shall  have  thee 

In  the  depth  by  the  doors  of  Hel; 

To  the  frost-giants’  halls  each  day  shalt  thou 
fare, 

Crawling  and  craving  in  vain, 

(Crawling  and  having  no  hope.) 

36.  “Base  wretches  there  by  the  root  of  the  tree 

Will  hold  for  thee  horns  of  filth ; 

A  fairer  drink  shalt  thou  never  find, 

Maid,  to  meet  thy  wish, 

(Maid,  to  meet  my  wish.) 

37.  “I  write  thee  a  charm  and  three  runes  therewith, 

Longing  and  madness  and  lust ; 

But  what  I  have  writ  I  may  yet  unwrite 
If  I  find  a  need  therefor.” 


35.  Most  editors  combine  lines  1-2  with  stanza  36  (either 
with  the  first  two  lines  thereof  or  the  whole  stanza),  as  lines 
3-5  stand  in  the  manuscript  after  line  2  of  stanza  30.  Hrimgrim¬ 
nir  (“The  Frost-Shrouded”)  :  a  giant  not  elsewhere  mentioned. 
Line  5,  as  a  repetition  of  line  4,  is  probably  a  later  addition. 

36.  For  the  combination  of  this  stanza  with  the  preceding  one, 
cf.  note  on  stanza  35.  The  scribe  clearly  did  not  consider  that  the 
stanza  began  with  line  1,  as  the  first  word  thereof  in  the  manu¬ 
script  does  not  begin  with  a  capital  letter  and  has  no  period 
before  it.  The  first  word  of  line  3,  however,  is  so  marked.  Line  5 
may  well  be  spurious. 

37.  Again  the  scribe  seems  to  have  been  uncertain  as  to  the 
stanza  divisions.  This  time  the  first  line  is  preceded  by  a  period, 
but  begins  with  a  small  letter.  Many  editors  have  made  line  2 

[118] 


Skirnismol 


Gerth  spake: 

38.  “Find  welcome  rather,  and  with  it  take 

The  frost-cup  filled  with  mead ; 

Though  I  did  not  believe  that  I  should  so  love 
Ever  one  of  the  Wanes.” 

Skirnir  spake: 

39.  “My  tidings  all  must  I  truly  learn 

Ere  homeward  hence  I  ride : 

How  soon  thou  wilt  with  the  mighty  son 
Of  Njorth  a  meeting  make.” 

Gerth  spake: 

40.  “Barri  there  is,  which  we  both  know  well, 

A  forest  fair  and  still; 

And  nine  nights  hence  to  the  son  of  Njorth 
Will  Gerth  there  grant  delight.” 

Then  Skirnir  rode  home.  Freyr  stood  without,  and 
spoke  to  him,  and  asked  for  tidings: 

41.  “Tell  me,  Skirnir,  ere  thou  take  off  the  saddle, 

Or  farest  forward  a  step : 

What  hast  thou  done  in  the  giants’  dwelling 
To  make  glad  thee  or  me?” 


into  two  half-lines.  A  charm:  literally,  the  rune  Thurs  (þ)  ;  the 
runic  letters  all  had  magic  attributes;  cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  6-7  and 
notes. 

40.  Barri:  “The  Leafy.” 


[  119] 


Poetic  Edda 


Skirnir  spake: 

42.  “Barri  there  is,  which  we  both  know  well, 

A  forest  fair  and  still ; 

And  nine  nights  hence  to  the  son  of  Njorth 
Will  Gerth  there  grant  delight.” 

Freyr  spake : 

43.  “Long  is  one  night,  longer  are  two; 

How  then  shall  I  bear  three? 

Often  to  me  has  a  month  seemed  less 
Than  now  half  a  night  of  desire.” 


42.  Abbreviated  to  initial  letters  in  the  manuscript. 

43.  The  superscription  is  lacking  in  Regius.  Snorri  quotes  this 
one  stanza  in  his  prose  paraphrase,  Gylfaginning,  chapter  37. 
The  two  versions  are  substantially  the  same,  except  that  Snorri 
makes  the  first  line  read,  “Long  is  one  night,  long  is  the 
second.” 


[120] 


HARBARTHSLJOTH 

The  Poem  of  Harbarth 

Introductory  Note 

The  Harbarthsljoth  is  found  complete  in  the  Codex  Regius, 
where  it  follows  the  Skirnismol,  and  from  the  fourth  line  of 
stan  a  19  to  the  end  of  the  poem  in  the  Arnamagnœan  Codex,  of 
which  it  occupies  the  first  page  and  a  half. 

The  poem  differs  sharply  from  those  which  precede  it  in  the 
Codex  Regius,  both  in  metrical  form  and  in  spirit.  It  is,  indeed, 
the  most  nearly  formless  of  all  the  Eddie  poems.  The  normal 
metre  is  the  Malahattr  (cf.  Introduction,  where  an  example  is 
given).  The  name  of  this  verse-form  means  “in  the  manner  of 
conversation,”  and  the  Harbarthsljoth’s  verse  fully  justifies  the 
term.  The  Atli  poems  exemplify  the  conventional  use  of  Mala¬ 
hattr,  but  in  the  Harbarthsljoth  the  form  is  used  with  extraor¬ 
dinary  freedom,  and  other  metrical  forms  are  frequently  employed. 
A  few  of  the  speeches  of  which  the  poem  is  composed  cannot  be 
twisted  into  any  known  Old  Norse  metre,  and  appear  to  be 
simply  prose. 

How  far  this  confusion  is  due  to  interpolations  and  faulty 
transmission  of  the  original  poem  is  uncertain.  Finnur  Jonsson 
has  attempted  a  wholesale  purification  of  the  poem,  but  his  arbi¬ 
trary  condemnation  of  words,  lines,  and  entire  stanzas  as  spuri¬ 
ous  is  quite  unjustified  by  any  positive  evidence.  I  have  accepted 
Mogk’s  theory  that  the  author  was  “a  first-rate  psychologist,  but 
a  poor  poet,”  and  have  translated  the  poem  as  it  stands  in  the 
manuscripts.  I  have  preserved  the  metrical  confusion  of  the 
original  by  keeping  throughout  so  far  as  possible  to  the  metres 
found  in  the  poem ;  if  the  rhythm  of  the  translation  is  often  hard 
to  catch,  the  difficulty  is  no  less  with  the  original  Norse. 

The  poem  is  simply  a  contest  of  abuse,  such  as  the  early 
Norwegian  and  Icelander  delighted  in,  the  opposing  figures 
being  Thor  and  Othin,  the  latter  appearing  in  the  disguise  of 
the  ferryman  Harbarth.  Such  billingsgate  lent  itself  readily  to 
changes,  interpolations  and  omissions,  and  it  is  little  wonder 
that  the  poem  is  chaotic.  It  consists  mainly  of  boasting  and  of 
references,  often  luckily  obscure,  to  disreputable  events  in  the 
life  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  disputants.  Some  editors  have 
sought  to  read  a  complex  symbolism  into  it,  particularly  by  rep- 

[121] 


Poetic  Edda 


resenting  it  as  a  contest  between  the  noble  or  warrior  class 
(Othin)  and  the  peasant  (Thor).  But  it  seems  a  pity  to  take  such 
a  vigorous  piece  of  broad  farce  too  seriously. 

Verse-form,  substance,  and  certain  linguistic  peculiarities, 
notably  the  suffixed  articles,  point  to  a  relatively  late  date 
(eleventh  century)  for  the  poem  in  its  present  form.  Probably  it 
had  its  origin  in  the  early  days,  but  its  colloquial  nature  and  its 
vulgarity  made  it  readily  susceptible  to  changes. 

Owing  to  the  chaotic  state  of  the  text,  and  the  fact  that  none 
of  the  editors  or  commentators  have  succeeded  in  improving  it 
much,  I  have  not  in  this  case  attempted  to  give  all  the  important 
emendations  and  suggestions.  The  stanza-divisions  are  largely 
arbitrary. 


Thor  was  on  his  way  back  from  a  journey  in  the  East, 
and  came  to  a  sound ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  sound  was  a 
ferryman  with  a  boat.  Thor  called  out : 

i.  “Who  is  the  fellow  yonder,  on  the  farther  shore 
of  the  sound?” 


Prose.  Harbarth  (“Gray-Beard”)  :  Othin.  On  the  nature  of 
the  prose  notes  found  in  the  manuscripts,  cf.  Grimnismol,  intro¬ 
duction.  Thor :  the  journeys  of  the  thunder-god  were  almost  as 
numerous  as  those  of  Othin;  cf.  Thrymskvitha  and  Hymis- 
kvitha.  Like  the  Robin  Hood  of  the  British  ballads,  Thor  was  often 
temporarily  worsted,  but  always  managed  to  come  out  ahead 
in  the  end.  His  “Journey  in  the  East”  is  presumably  the  famous 
episode,  related  in  full  by  Snorri,  in  the  course  of  which  he  en¬ 
countered  the  giant  Skrymir,  and  in  the  house  of  Utgartha- 
Loki  lifted  the  cat  which  turned  out  to  be  Mithgarthsorm.  The 
Hymiskvitha  relates  a  further  incident  of  this  journey. 

[  122] 


Harbarthsljoth 

The  ferryman  spake: 

2.  “What  kind  of  a  peasant  is  yon,  that  calls  o’er 

the  bay  ?” 

Thor  spake: 

3.  “Ferry  me  over  the  sound  ;  I  will  feed  thee  there¬ 

for  in  the  morning; 

A  basket  I  have  on  my  back,  and  food  therein, 
none  better; 

At  leisure  I  ate,  ere  the  house  I  left, 

Of  herrings  and  porridge,  so  plenty  I  had.’’ 

The  ferryman  spake: 

4.  “Of  thy  morning  feats  art  thou  proud,  but  the 

future  thou  knowest  not  wholly  ; 

Doleful  thine  home-coming  is:  thy  mother,  me- 

thinks,  is  dead.” 

Thor  spake: 

5.  “Now  hast  thou  said  what  to  each  must  seem 
The  mightiest  grief,  that  my  mother  is  dead.” 


2.  The  superscriptions  to  the  speeches  are  badly  confused  in 
the  manuscripts,  but  editors  have  agreed  fairly  well  as  to 
where  they  belong. 

3.  From  the  fact  that  in  Regius  line  3  begins  with  a  capital 
letter,  it  is  possible  that  lines  3-4  constitute  the  ferryman’s  reply, 
with  something  lost  before  stanza  4. 

4.  Thy  mother:  Jorth  (Earth). 

5.  Some  editors  assume  a  lacuna  after  this  stanza. 

6.  Three  good  dwellings:  this  has  been  generally  assumed  to 
mean  three  separate  establishments,  but  it  may  refer  simply  to 

[  123] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  ferry  man  spake: 

6.  “Three  good  dwellings,  methinks,  thou  hast  not; 
Barefoot  thou  standest,  and  wearest  a  beggar’s 

dress; 

Not  even  hose  dost  thou  have.” 

Thor  spake: 

7.  “Steer  thou  hither  the  boat ;  the  landing  here  shall 

I  show  thee ; 

But  whose  the  craft  that  thou  keepest  on  the 
shore?” 

The  ferryman  spake: 

8.  “Hildolf  is  he  who  bade  me  have  it, 

A  hero  wise;  his  home  is  at  Rathsey’s  sound. 

He  bade  me  no  robbers  to  steer,  nor  stealers  of 
steeds, 

But  worthy  men,  and  those  whom  well  do  I  know. 
Say  now  thy  name,  if  over  the  sound  thou  wilt 
fare.” 

Thor  spake: 

9.  “My  name  indeed  shall  I  tell,  though  in  danger 

I  am, 


the  three  parts  of  a  single  farm,  the  dwelling  proper,  the  cattle- 
barn  and  the  storehouse;  i.e.,  Thor  is  not  even  a  respectable 
peasant. 

8.  Hildolf  (“slaughtering  wolf”)  :  not  elsewhere  mentioned 
in  the  Edda.  Rathsey  (“Isle  of  Counsel”)  :  likewise  not  mentioned 
elsewhere. 

9.  In  danger:  Thor  is  “sekr,”  i.e.,  without  the  protection  of 
any  law,  so  long  as  he  is  in  the  territory  of  his  enemies,  the 

[124] 


Harbarthsljoth 

And  all  my  race;  I  am  Othin’s  son, 

Meili’s  brother,  and  Magni’s  father, 

The  strong  one  of  the  gods;  with  Thor  now 
speech  canst  thou  get. 

And  now  would  I  know  what  name  thou  hast.” 
The  ferryman  spake: 

10.  “Harbarth  am  I,  and  seldom  I  hide  my  name.” 

Thor  spake: 

11.  “Why  shouldst  thou  hide  thy  name,  if  quarrel 

thou  hast  not?” 

Harbarth  spake: 

12.  “And  though  I  had  a  quarrel,  from  such  as  thou 

art 

Yet  none  the  less  my  life  would  I  guard, 

Unless  I  be  doomed  to  die.” 


giants.  Meili:  a  practically  unknown  son  of  Othin,  mentioned 
here  only  in  the  Edda.  Magni:  son  of  Thor  and  the  giantess 
Jarnsaxa;  after  Thor’s  fight  with  Hrungnir  (cf.  stanza  14,  note) 
Magni,  though  but  three  days  old,  was  the  only  one  of  the  gods 
strong  enough  to  lift  the  dead  giant’s  foot  from  Thor’s  neck. 
After  rescuing  his  father,  Magni  said  to  him:  “There  would 
have  been  little  trouble,  father,  had  I  but  come  sooner;  I  think 
I  should  have  sent  this  giant  to  hell  with  my  fist  if  I  had  met 
him  first.”  Magni  and  his  brother,  Mothi,  inherit  Thor’s  hammer. 

12.  This  stanza  is  hopelessly  confused  as  to  form,  but  none 
of  the  editorial  rearrangements  have  materially  altered  the 
meaning.  Doomed  to  die:  the  word  “feigr”  occurs  constantly  in 
the  Old  Norse  poems  and  sagas;  the  idea  of  an  inevitable  but 
unknown  fate  seems  to  have  been  practically  universal  through¬ 
out  the  pre-Christian  period.  On  the  concealment  of  names  from 
enemies,  cf.  Fafnismol ,  prose  after  stanza  1. 

[125J 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

13.  “Great  trouble,  methinks,  would  it  be  to  come  to 

thee, 

To  wade  the  waters  across,  and  wet  my  middle; 

Weakling,  well  shall  I  pay  thy  mocking  words, 

If  across  the  sound  I  come.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

14.  “Here  shall  I  stand  and  await  thee  here ; 

Thou  hast  found  since  Hrungnir  died  no  fiercer 
man.” 

Thor  spake: 

15.  “Fain  art  thou  to  tell  how  with  Hrungnir  I 

fought, 

The  haughty  giant,  whose  head  of  stone  was 
made ; 

And  yet  I  felled  him,  and  stretched  him  before  me. 
What,  Harbarth,  didst  thou  the  while?” 


13.  This  stanza,  like  the  preceding  one,  is  peculiarly  chaotic 
in  the  manuscript,  and  has  been  variously  emended. 

14.  Hrungnir:  this  giant  rashly  wagered  his  head  that  his 
horse,  Gullfaxi,  was  swifter  than  Othin’s  Sleipnir.  In  the  race, 
which  Hrungnir  lost,  he  managed  to  dash  uninvited  into  the 
home  of  the  gods,  where  he  became  very  drunk.  Thor  ejected 
him,  and  accepted  his  challenge  to  a  duel.  Hrungnir,  terrified, 
had  a  helper  made  for  him  in  the  form  of  a  dummy  giant  nine 
miles  high  and  three  miles  broad.  Hrungnir  himself  had  a  three¬ 
horned  heart  of  stone  and  a  head  of  stone ;  his  shield  was  of 
stone  and  his  weapon  was  a  grindstone.  But  Thjalfi,  Thor’s 
servant,  told  him  the  god  would  attack  him  out  of  the  ground, 
wherefore  Hrungnir  laid  down  his  shield  and  stood  on  it.  The 
hammer  Mjollnir  shattered  both  the  grindstone  and  Hrungnir’s 

[126] 


Harbarthsljoth 

Harbarth  spake: 

1 6.  “Five  full  winters  with  Fjolvar  was  I, 

And  dwelt  in  the  isle  that  is  Algrön  called ; 

There  could  we  fight,  and  fell  the  slain, 

Much  could  we  seek,  and  maids  could  master.” 

Thor  spake: 

17.  “How  won  ye  success  with  your  women?” 

« 

Harbarth  spake: 

18.  “Lively  women  we  had,  if  they  wTise  for  us  were; 
Wise  were  the  women  we  had,  if  they  kind  for 

us  were ; 

For  ropes  of  sand  they  would  seek  to  wind, 

And  the  bottom  to  dig  from  the  deepest  dale. 
Wiser  than  all  in  counsel  I  was, 

And  there  I  slept  by  the  sisters  seven, 

And  joy  full  great  did  I  get  from  each. 

What,  Thor,  didst  thou  the  while?” 


head,  but  part  of  the  grindstone  knocked  Thor  down,  and  the 
giant  fell  with  his  foot  on  Thor’s  neck  (cf.  note  on  stanza  9). 
Meanwhile  Thjalfi  dispatched  the  dummy  giant  without  trouble. 

16.  Fjolvar:  not  elsewhere  mentioned  in  the  poems;  perhaps 
the  father  of  the  “seven  sisters”  referred  to  in  stanza  18.  Algrön 
“The  All-Green”:  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  Edda. 

17.  Thor  is  always  eager  for  stories  of  this  sort;  cf.  stanzas 
31  and  33. 

18.  Lines  1-2  are  obscure,  but  apparently  Harbarth  means 
that  the  women  were  wise  to  give  in  to  him  cheerfully,  resistance 
to  his  power  being  as  impossible  as  (lines  3-4)  making  ropes  of 
sand  or  digging  the  bottoms  out  of  the  valleys.  Nothing  further  is 
known  of  these  unlucky  “seven  sisters.” 

[127] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

19.  “Thjazi  I  felled,  the  giant  fierce, 

And  I  hurled  the  eyes  of  Alvaldi’s  son 
To  the  heavens  hot  above; 

Of  my  deeds  the  mightiest  marks  are  these, 
That  all  men  since  can  see. 

What,  Harbarth,  didst  thou  the  while?” 


Harbarth  spake: 

20.  “Much  love-craft  I  wrought  with  them  who  ride 
by  night, 

When  I  stole  them  by  stealth  from  their  husbands; 
A  giant  hard  was  Hlebarth,  methinks: 

His  wand  he  gave  me  as  gift, 

And  I  stole  his  wits  away.” 


19.  Thjazi:  this  giant,  by  a  trick,  secured  possession  of  the 
goddess  Ithun  and  her  apples  (cf.  Skirnismol,  19,  note),  and 
carried  her  off  into  Jotunheim.  Loki,  through  whose  fault  she 
had  been  betrayed,  was  sent  after  her  by  the  gods.  He  went  in 
Freyja’s  “hawk’s-dress”  (cf.  Thrymskvitha,  3),  turned  Ithun 
into  a  nut,  and  flew  back  with  her.  Thjazi,  in  the  shape  of  an 
eagle,  gave  chase.  But  the  gods  kindled  a  fire  which  burnt  the 
eagle’s  wings,  and  then  they  killed  him.  Snorri’s  prose  version 
does  not  attribute  this  feat  particularly  to  Thor.  Thjazi’9  daugh¬ 
ter  was  Skathi,  whom  the  gods  permitted  to  marry  Njorth  as  a 
recompense  for  her  father’s  death.  Alvaldi:  of  him  we  know 
only  that  he  was  the  father  of  Thjazi,  Ithi  and  Gang,  who 
divided  his  wealth,  each  taking  a  mouthful  of  gold.  The  name 
is  variously  spelled.  It  is  not  known  which  stars  were  called 
“Thjazi’s  Eyes.”  In  the  middle  of  line  4  begins  the  fragmentary 
version  of  the  poem  found  in  the  Arnamagnaan  Codex. 

20.  Riders  by  night:  witches,  who  were  supposed  to  ride  on 
wolves  in  the  dark.  Nothing  further  is  known  of  this  adventure. 

[  128] 


Harbarthsljoth 

Thor  spake: 

21.  “Thou  didst  repay  good  gifts  with  evil  mind.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

22.  “The  oak  must  have  what  it  shaves  from  another  ; 
In  such  things  each  for  himself. 

What,  Thor,  didst  thou  the  while?” 

Thor  spake: 

23.  “Eastward  I  fared,  of  the  giants  I  felled 
Their  ill-working  women  who  went  to  the  moun¬ 
tain  ; 

And  large  were  the  giants’  throng  if  all  were 
alive ; 

No  men  would  there  be  in  Mithgarth  more. 
What,  Harbarth,  didst  thou  the  while?” 

Harbarth  spake: 

24.  “In  Valland  I  was,  and  wars  1  raised, 

Princes  I  angered,  and  peace  brought  never; 

The  noble  who  fall  in  the  fight  hath  Othin, 

And  Thor  hath  the  race  of  the  thralls.” 


22.  The  oak,  etc.:  this  proverb  is  found  elsewhere  (e.g., 
Grettissaga)  in  approximately  the  same  words.  Its  force  is  much 
like  our  “to  the  victor  belong  the  spoils.” 

23.  Thor  killed  no  women  of  the  giants’  race  on  the  “journey 
to  the  East”  so  fully  described  by  Snorri,  his  great  giant-killing 
adventure  being  the  one  narrated  in  the  Thrymskvitha. 

24.  Valland:  this  mythical  place  (“Land  of  Slaughter”)  is 
elsewhere  mentioned,  but  not  further  characterised;  cf.  prose 
introduction  to  Völundarkvitha,  and  Helreith  Brynhildar,  2.  On 
the  bringing  of  slain  heroes  to  Othin,  cf.  Voluspo,  31  and  note, 

[  129] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

25.  “Unequal  gifts  of  men  wouldst  thou  give  to  the 

gods, 

If  might  too  much  thou  shouldst  have.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

26.  “Thor  has  might  enough,  but  never  a  heart; 

For  cowardly  fear  in  a  glove  wast  thou  fain  to 

crawl, 

And  there  forgot  thou  wast  Thor; 

Afraid  there  thou  wast,  thy  fear  was  such, 

To  fart  or  sneeze  lest  Fjalar  should  hear.” 


Thor  spake: 

27.  “Thou  womanish  Harbarth,  to  hell  would  I  smite 
thee  straight, 

Could  mine  arm  reach  over  the  sound.” 


and,  for  a  somewhat  different  version,  Grimnismol,  14.  Nowhere 
else  is  it  indicated  that  Thor  has  an  asylum  for  dead  peasants. 

26.  The  reference  here  is  to  one  of  the  most  familiar  episodes 
in  Thor’s  eastward  journey.  He  and  his  companions  came  to  a 
house  in  the  forest,  and  went  in  to  spend  the  night.  Being  dis¬ 
turbed  by  an  earthquake  and  a  terrific  noise,  they  all  crawled 
into  a  smaller  room  opening  from  the  main  one.  In  the  morning, 
however,  they  discovered  that  the  earthquake  had  been  oc¬ 
casioned  by  the  giant  Skrymir’s  lying  down  near  them,  and  the 
noise  by  his  snoring.  The  house  in  which  they  had  taken  refuge 
was  his  glove,  the  smaller  room  being  the  thumb.  Skrymir  was 
in  fact  Utgartha-Loki  himself.  That  he  is  in  this  stanza  called 
Fjalar  (the  name  occurs  also  in  Hovamol,  14)  is  probably  due  to 
a  confusion  of  the  names  by  which  Utgartha-Loki  went.  Loki 
taunts  Thor  with  this  adventure  in  Lokasenna,  60  and  62,  line  3 
of  this  stanza  being  perhaps  interpolated  from  Lokasenna,  60,  4. 

[  130] 


Harbarthsljoth 

Harbarth  spake: 

28.  “Wherefore  reach  over  the  sound,  since  strife  we 

have  none? 

What,  Thor,  didst  thou  do  then?” 

Thor  spake: 

29.  “Eastward  I  was,  and  the  river  I  guarded  well, 
Where  the  sons  of  Svarang  sought  me  there ; 
Stones  did  they  hurl;  small  joy  did  they  have  of 

winning ; 

Before  me  there  to  ask  for  peace  did  they  fare. 
What,  Harbarth,  didst  thou  the  while?” 

Harbarth  spake: 

30.  “Eastward  I  was,  and  spake  with  a  certain  one, 
I  played  with  the  linen-white  maid,  and  met  her 

by  stealth ; 

I  gladdened  the  gold-decked  one,  and  she  granted 
me  joy.” 

Thor  spake: 

31.  “Full  fair  was  thy  woman-finding.” 


29.  The  river:  probably  Ifing,  which  flows  between  the  land 
of  the  gods  and  that  of  the  giants;  cf.  V  afthruthnismol,  16. 
Sons  of  Svarang:  presumably  the  giants;  Svarang  is  not  else¬ 
where  mentioned  in  the  poems,  nor  is  there  any  other  account  of 
Thor’s  defense  of  the  passage. 

30.  Othin’s  adventures  of  this  sort  were  too  numerous  to  make 
it  possible  to  identify  this  particular  person.  By  stealth:  so  the 
Arnamagnaan  Codex;  Regius,  followed  by  several  editors,  has 
“long  meeting  with  her.” 


[131] 


Poetic  Edda 


Harbarth  spake: 

32.  “Thy  help  did  I  need  then,  Thor,  to  hold  the 

white  maid  fast.” 

Thor  spake : 

33.  “Gladly,  had  I  been  there,  my  help  to  thee  had 

been  given.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

34.  “I  might  have  trusted  thee  then,  didst  thou  not 

betray  thy  troth.” 

Thor  spake: 

35.  “No  heel-biter  am  I,  in  truth,  like  an  old  leather 

shoe  in  spring.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

36.  “What,  Thor,  didst  thou  the  while?” 

Thor  spake: 

37.  “In  Hlesey  the  brides  of  the  Berserkers  slew  I; 
Most  evil  they  were,  and  all  they  betrayed.” 


35.  Heel-biter :  this  effective  parallel  to  our  “back-biter”  is 
not  found  elsewhere  in  Old  Norse. 

37.  Hlesey:  “the  Island  of  the  Sea-God”  (Hler  =  Ægir), 
identified  with  the  Danish  island  Lásö,  in  the  Kattegat.  It  appears 
again,  much  out  of  place,  in  Oddrunargratr,  28.  Berserkers : 
originally  men  who  could  turn  themselves  into  bears,  hence  the 
name,  “bear-shirts”;  cf.  the  werewolf  or  loupgarou.  Later  the 
name  was  applied  to  men  who  at  times  became  seized  with  a 
madness  for  bloodshed;  cf.  Hyndluljoth,  23  and  note.  The 
women  here  mentioned  are  obviously  of  the  earlier  type. 

[  132] 


Harbarthsljoth 

Harbarth  spake: 

38.  “Shame  didst  thou  win,  that  women  thou  slewest, 
Thor.” 


Thor  spake: 

39.  “She-wolves  they  were  like,  and  women  but  little ; 
My  ship,  which  well  I  had  trimmed,  did  they 
shake ; 

With  clubs  of  iron  they  threatened,  and  Thjalfi 
they  drove  off. 


What,  Harbarth,  didst 

Harbarth  spake: 

40.  “In  the  host  I  was 
The  banners  to  raise, 

Thor  spake: 

41.  “Wilt  thou  now  say 

to  bring  us?” 

Harbarth  spake: 

42.  “A  ring  for  thy  hand 
As  the  judge  decides 


thou  the  while?” 

that  hither  fared, 

and  the  spear  to  redden.” 

that  hatred  thou  soughtest 


shall  make  all  right  for  thee, 
who  sets  us  two  at  peace.” 


39.  Thjalfi:  Thor’s  servant;  cf.  note  on  stanza  14. 

40.  To  what  expedition  this  refers  is  unknown,  but  appar¬ 
ently  Othin  speaks  of  himself  as  allied  to  the  foes  of  the  gods. 

41.  Hatred:  so  Regius ;  the  other  manuscript  has,  apparently, 
“sickness.” 

42.  Just  what  Othin  means,  or  why  his  words  should  so 
have  enraged  Thor,  is  not  evident,  though  he  may  imply  that 
Thor  is  open  to  bribery.  Perhaps  a  passage  has  dropped  out 
before  stanza  43. 


[133] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

43.  “Where  foundest  thou  so  foul  and  scornful  a 

speech  ? 

More  foul  a  speech  I  never  before  have  heard.” 
Harbarth  spake: 

44.  “I  learned  it  from  men,  the  men  so  old, 

Who  dwell  in  the  hills  of  home.” 

Thor  spake: 

45.  “A  name  full  good  to  heaps  of  stones  thou  givest 
When  thou  callest  them  hills  of  home.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

46.  “Of  such  things  speak  I  so.” 

Thor  spake: 

47.  “Ill  for  thee  comes  thy  keenness  of  tongue, 

If  the  water  I  choose  to  wade; 

Louder,  I  ween,  than  a  wolf  thou  cryest, 

If  a  blow  of  my  hammer  thou  hast.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

48.  “Sif  has  a  lover  at  home,  and  him  shouldst  thou 

meet ; 

More  fitting  it  were  on  him  to  put  forth  thy 
strength.” 

44.  Othin  refers  to  the  dead,  from  whom  he  seeks  informa¬ 
tion  through  his  magic  power. 

48.  Sif:  Thor’s  wife,  the  lover  being  presumably  Loki ;  cf. 
Lokasenna,  54. 


[134] 


Harbarthsljoth 

Thor  spake: 

49.  “Thy  tongue  still  makes  thee  say  what  seems  most 

ill  to  me, 

Thou  witless  man!  Thou  liest,  I  ween.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

50.  “Truth  do  I  speak,  but  slow  on  thy  way  thou  art; 
Far  hadst  thou  gone  if  now  in  the  boat  thou  hadst 

fared.” 

Thor  spake: 

51.  “Thou  womanish  Harbarth!  here  hast  thou  held 

me  too  long.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

52.  “I  thought  not  ever  that  Asathor  would  be  hin¬ 

dered 

By  a  ferryman  thus  from  faring.” 

Thor  spake: 

53.  “One  counsel  I  bring  thee  now:  row  hither  thy 

boat ; 

No  more  of  scoffing;  set  Magni’s  father  across.” 
Harbarth  spake: 

54.  “From  the  sound  go  hence;  the  passage  thou  hast 

not.” 


52.  Asathor:  Thor  goes  by  various  names  in  the  poems:  e.g., 
Vingthor,  Vingnir,  Hlorrithi.  Asathor  means  “Thor  of  the  Gods.” 

53.  Magni :  Thor’s  son;  cf.  stanza  9  and  note. 

[135] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

55.  “The  way  now  show  me,  since  thou  takest  me  not 

o’er  the  water.” 

Harbartli  spake: 

56.  “To  refuse  it  is  little,  to  fare  it  is  long ; 

A  while  to  the  stock,  and  a  while  to  the  stone ; 

Then  the  road  to  thy  left,  till  Verland  thou  readi¬ 
est; 

And  there  shall  Fjorgyn  her  son  Thor  find, 

And  the  road  of  her  children  she  shows  him  to 
Othin’s  realm.” 

Thor  spake: 

57.  “May  I  come  so  far  in  a  day?” 

Harbarth  spake: 

58.  “With  toil  and  trouble  perchance, 

While  the  sun  still  shines,  or  so  I  think.” 

Thor  spake: 

59.  “Short  now  shall  be  our  speech,  for  thou  speakest 

in  mockery  only; 


56.  Line  2:  the  phrases  mean  simply  “a  long  way”;  cf.  “over 
stock  and  stone.”  Verland:  the  “Land  of  Men”  to  which  Thor 
must  come  from  the  land  of  the  giants.  The  Arnamagnœan  Codex 
has  “Valland”  (cf.  stanza  24  and  note),  but  this  is  obviously  an 
error.  Fjorgyn:  a  feminine  form  of  the  same  name,  which  be¬ 
longs  to  Othin  (cf.  Voluspo,  56  and  note)  ;  here  it  evidently 
means  Jorth  (Earth),  Thor’s  mother.  The  road:  the  rainbow 
bridge,  Bifrost;  cf.  Grimnismol,  29  and  note. 

58.  Line  2:  so  Regius;  the  other  manuscript  has  “ere  sunrise.” 

[136] 


Harbarthsljoth 

The  passage  thou  gavest  me  not  I  shall  pay  thee 
if  ever  we  meet.” 

Harbarth  spake: 

60.  “Get  hence  where  every  evil  thing  shall  have  thee !” 


60.  The  Arnamagnœan  Codex  clearly  indicates  Harbarth  as 
the  speaker  of  this  line,  but  Regius  has  no  superscription,  and 
begins  the  line  with  a  small  letter  not  preceded  by  a  period, 
thereby  assigning  it  to  Thor. 


[137] 


HYMISKVITHA 

The  Lay  of  Hymir 

Introductory  Note 

The  Hymiskvitha  is  found  complete  in  both  manuscripts;  in 
Regius  it  follows  the  Harbarthsljoth,  while  in  the  Arnamag- 
nœan  Codex  it  comes  after  the  Grimnismol.  Snorri  does  not  quote 
it,  although  he  tells  the  main  story  involved. 

The  poem  is  a  distinctly  inferior  piece  of  work,  obviously 
based  on  various  narrative  fragments,  awkwardly  pieced  to¬ 
gether.  Some  critics,  Jessen  and  Edzardi  for  instance,  have  main¬ 
tained  that  the  compiler  had  before  him  three  distinct  poems, 
which  he  simply  put  together;  others,  like  Finnur  Jonsson  and 
Mogk,  think  that  the  author  made  a  new  poem  of  his  own  on  the 
basis  of  earlier  poems,  now  lost.  It  seems  probable  that  he  took 
a  lot  of  odds  and  ends  of  material  concerning  Thor,  whether  in 
prose  or  in  verse,  and  worked  them  together  in  a  perfunctory 
way,  without  much  caring  how  well  they  fitted.  His  chief  aim 
was  probably  to  impress  the  credulous  imaginations  of  hearers 
greedy  for  wonders. 

The  poem  is  almost  certainly  one  of  the  latest  of  those  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  gods,  though  Finnur  Jonsson,  in  order  to  support  his 
theory  of  a  Norwegian  origin,  has  to  date  it  relatively  early. 
If,  as  seems  probable,  it  was  produced  in  Iceland,  the  chances 
are  that  it  was  composed  in  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century. 
Jessen,  rather  recklessly,  goes  so  far  as  to  put  it  two  hundred 
years  later.  In  any  case,  it  belongs  to  a  period  of  literary  de¬ 
cadence, — the  great  days  of  Eddie  poetry  would  never  have  per¬ 
mitted  the  nine  hundred  headed  person  found  in  Hymir’s  home  — 
and  to  one  in  which  the  usual  forms  of  diction  in  mythological 
poetry  had  yielded  somewhat  to  the  verbal  subtleties  of  skaldic 
verse. 

While  the  skaldic  poetry  properly  falls  outside  the  limits  of 
this  book,  it  is  necessary  here  to  say  a  word  about  it.  There  is 
preserved,  in  the  sagas  and  elsewhere,  a  very  considerable  body 
of  lyric  poetry,  the  authorship  of  each  poem  being  nearly  always 
definitely  stated,  whether  correctly  or  otherwise.  This  type  of 
poetry  is  marked  by  an  extraordinary  complexity  of  diction, 
with  a  peculiarly  difficult  vocabulary  of  its  own.  It  was  to  ex¬ 
plain  some  of  the  “kennings”  which  composed  this  special 

[  138] 


Hymiskvitha 

vocabulary  that  Snorri  wrote  one  of  the  sections  of  the  Prose 
Edda.  As  an  illustration,  in  a  single  stanza  of  one  poem  in  the 
Egilssaga,  a  sword  is  called  “the  halo  of  the  helm,”  “the  wound- 
hoe,”  “the  blood-snake”  (possibly;  no  one  is  sure  what  the 
compound  word  means)  and  “the  ice  of  the  girdle,”  while  men 
appear  in  the  same  stanza  as  “Othin’s  ash-trees,”  and  battle  is 
spoken  of  as  “the  iron  game.”  One  of  the  eight  lines  has  defied 
translation  completely. 

Skaldic  diction  made  relatively  few  inroads  into  the  earlier 
Eddie  poems,  but  in  the  Hymiskvitha  these  circumlocutions  are 
fairly  numerous.  This  sets  the  poem  somewhat  apart  from  the 
rest  of  the  mythological  collection.  Only  the  vigor  of  the  two 
main  stories  —  Thor’s  expedition  after  Hymir’s  kettle  and  the 
fishing  trip  in  which  he  caught  Mithgarthsorm  —  saves  it  from 
complete  mediocrity. 


I.  Of  old  the  gods  made  feast  together, 

And  drink  they  sought  ere  sated  they  were ; 
Twigs  they  shook,  and  blood  they  tried: 

Rich  fare  in  Ægir’s  hall  they  found. 

i.  Twigs:  Vigfusson  comments  at  some  length  on  “the  rite 
practised  in  the  heathen  age  of  inquiring  into  the  future  by 
dipping  bunches  of  chips  or  twigs  into  the  blood  (of  sacrifices) 
and  shaking  them.”  But  the  two  operations  may  have  been 
separate,  the  twigs  being  simply  “divining-rods”  marked  with 
runes.  In  either  case,  the  gods  were  seeking  information  by 
magic  as  to  where  they  could  find  plenty  to  drink.  Ægir:  a  giant 
who  is  also  the  god  of  the  sea;  little  is  known  of  him  outside 
of  what  is  told  here  and  in  the  introductory  prose  to  the  Loka- 
senna,  though  Snorri  has  a  brief  account  of  him,  giving  his  home 
as  Hlesey  (Lásö,  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  37).  Grimnismol,  45,  has  a 
reference  to  this  same  feast. 


[139] 


Poetic  Edda 


2.  The  mountain-dweller  sat  merry  as  boyhood, 
But  soon  like  a  blinded  man  he  seemed  ; 

The  son  of  Ygg  gazed  in  his  eyes: 

“For  the  gods  a  feast  shalt  thou  forthwith  get.” 


3.  The  word-wielder  toil  for  the  giant  worked, 
And  so  revenge  on  the  gods  he  sought ; 

He  bade  Sif’s  mate  the  kettle  bring: 
“Therein  for  ye  all  much  ale  shall  I  brew.” 


4.  The  far-famed  ones 
And  the  holy  gods 
Till  in  truthful  wise 
And  helpful  counsel 


could  find  it  not, 
could  get  it  nowhere; 
did  Tyr  speak  forth, 
to  Hlorrithi  gave. 


5.  “There  dwells  to  the  east  of  Elivagar 
Hymir  the  wise  at  the  end  of  heaven; 
A  kettle  my  father  fierce  doth  own, 
A  mighty  vessel  a  mile  in  depth.” 


2.  Mountain-dweller:  the  giant  (Ægir).  Line  2:  the  principal 
word  in  the  original  has  defied  interpretation,  and  any  trans¬ 
lation  of  the  line  must  be  largely  guesswork.  Ygg:  Othin ;  his 
son  is  Thor.  Some  editors  assume  a  gap  after  this  stanza. 

3.  Word-wielder:  Thor.  The  giant:  Ægir.  Sif:  Thor’s  wife; 
cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  48.  The  kettle:  Ægir’s  kettle  is  possibly  the 
sea  itself. 

4.  Tyr:  the  god  of  battle;  his  two  great  achievements  were 
thrusting  his  hand  into  the  mouth  of  the  wolf  Fenrir  so  that  the 
gods  might  bind  him,  whereby  he  lost  his  hand  (cf.  Foluspo,  39, 
note),  and  his  fight  with  the  hound  Garm  in  the  last  battle,  in 
which  they  kill  each  other.  Hlorrithi:  Thor. 

5.  Elivagar  (“Stormy  Waves”)  :  possibly  the  Milky  Way; 

[140] 


Hymiskvitha 

Thor  spake: 

6.  “May  we  win,  dost  thou  think,  this  whirler  of 

water?” 

Tyr  spake: 

“Aye,  friend,  we  can,  if  cunning  we  are.” 

7.  Forward  that  day  with  speed  they  fared, 

From  Asgarth  came  they  to  Egil’s  home; 

The  goats  with  horns  bedecked  he  guarded ; 
Then  they  sped  to  the  hall  where  Hymir  dwelt. 

8.  The  youth  found  his  grandam,  that  greatly  he 

loathed, 


cf.  Vafthruthnismol,  31,  note.  Hymir:  this  giant  figures  only  in 
this  episode.  It  is  not  clear  why  Tyr,  who  is  elsewhere  spoken 
of  as  a  son  of  Othin,  should  here  call  Hymir  his  father.  Finnur 
Jonsson,  in  an  attempt  to  get  round  this  difficulty,  deliberately 
changed  the  word  “father”  to  “grandfather,”  but  this  does  not 
help  greatly. 

6.  Neither  manuscript  has  any  superscriptions,  but  most  edi¬ 
tors  have  supplied  them  as  above.  From  this  point  through  stanza 
11  the  editors  have  varied  considerably  in  grouping  the  lines  into 
stanzas.  The  manuscripts  indicate  the  third  lines  of  stanzas  7,  8, 
9,  and  10  as  beginning  stanzas,  but  this  makes  more  complica¬ 
tions  than  the  present  arrangement.  It  is  possible  that,  as  Sijmons 
suggests,  two  lines  have  been  lost  after  stanza  6. 

7.  Egil:  possibly,  though  by  no  means  certainly,  the  father 
of  Thor’s  servant,  Thjalfi,  for,  according  to  Snorri,  Thor’s  first 
stop  on  this  journey  was  at  the  house  of  a  peasant  whose  chil¬ 
dren,  Thjalfi  and  Roskva,  he  took  into  his  service;  cf.  stanza 
38,  note.  The  Arnamagnœan  Codex  has  “Ægir”  instead  of  “Egil,” 
but,  aside  from  the  fact  that  Thor  had  just  left  Ægir’s  house,  the 
sea-god  can  hardly  have  been  spoken  of  as  a  goat-herd. 

8.  The  youth:  Tyr,  whose  extraordinary  grandmother  is 
Hymir’f.  mother.  We  know  nothing  further  of  her,  or  of  the  other, 

r  hi  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  full  nine  hundred  heads  she  had ; 

But  the  other  fair  with  gold  came  forth, 

And  the  bright-browed  one  brought  beer  to  her 
son. 

9.  “Kinsman  of  giants,  beneath  the  kettle 
Will  I  set  ye  both,  ye  heroes  bold ; 

For  many  a  time  my  dear-loved  mate 
To  guests  is  wrathful  and  grim  of  mind.” 

10.  Late  to  his  home  the  misshapen  Hymir, 

The  giant  harsh,  from  his  hunting  came; 

The  icicles  rattled  as  in  he  came, 

For  the  fellow’s  chin-forest  frozen  was. 

11.  “Hail  to  thee,  Hymir!  good  thoughts  mayst  thou 

have ; 

Here  has  thy  son  to  thine  hall  now  come; 

(For  him  have  we  waited,  his  way  was  long;) 
And  with  him  fares  the  foeman  of  Hroth, 

The  friend  of  mankind,  and  Veur  they  call  him. 


who  is  Hymir’s  wife  and  Tyr’s  mother.  It  may  be  guessed,  how¬ 
ever,  that  she  belonged  rather  to  the  race  of  the  gods  than  to 
that  of  the  giants. 

11.  Two  or  three  editors  give  this  stanza  a  superscription 
(“The  concubine  spake,”  “The  daughter  spake”).  Line  3  is  com¬ 
monly  regarded  as  spurious.  The  foeman  of  Hroth:  of  course 
this  means  Thor,  but  nothing  is  known  of  any  enemy  of  his  by  this 
name.  Several  editors  have  sought  to  make  a  single  word  mean¬ 
ing  “the  famous  enemy”  out  of  the  phrase.  Concerning  Thor  as 
the  friend  of  man,  particularly  of  the  peasant  class,  cf.  introduc¬ 
tion  to  Harbarthsljoth.  Veur:  another  name,  of  uncertain  mean¬ 
ing,  for  Thor. 


[142] 


Hymiskvitha 

12.  “See  where  under  the  gable  they  sit! 

Behind  the  beam  do  they  hide  themselves.” 
The  beam  at  the  glance  of  the  giant  broke, 
And  the  mighty  pillar  in  pieces  fell. 

13.  Eight  fell  from  the  ledge,  and  one  alone, 

The  hard-hammered  kettle,  of  all  was  whole ; 
Forth  came  they  then,  and  his  foes  he  sought, 
The  giant  old,  and  held  with  his  eyes. 


14.  Much  sorrow  his  heart  foretold  when  he  saw 
The  giantess’  foeman  come  forth  on  the  floor; 
Then  of  the  steers  did  they  bring  in  three ; 

Their  flesh  to  boil  did  the  giant  bid. 


15.  By  a  head  was  each  the  shorter  hewed, 

And  the  beasts  to  the  fire  straight  they  bore ; 
The  husband  of  Sif,  ere  to  sleep  he  went, 
Alone  two  oxen  of  Hymir’s  ate. 


16. 


To  the  comrade  hoary 
Did  Hlorrithi’s  meal 
“Next  time  at  eve 
The  food  we  have 


of  Hrungnir  then 
full  mighty  seem ; 
we  three  must  eat 
s  the  hunting’s  spoil.” 


13.  Eight:  the  giant’s  glance,  besides  breaking  the  beam, 
knocks  down  all  the  kettles  with  such  violence  that  all  but  the 
one  under  which  Thor  and  Tyr  are  hiding  are  broken. 

14.  Hymir’s  wrath  does  not  permit  him  to  ignore  the  duties 
of  a  host  to  his  guests,  always  strongly  insisted  on. 

15.  Thor’s  appetite  figures  elsewhere;  cf.  Thrymskvitha,  24. 

16.  The  comrade  of  Hrungnir:  Hymir,  presumably  simply 
because  both  are  giants ;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  14  and  note. 

[143] 


Poetic  Edda 


i7- 


Fain  to  row  on  the  sea  was  Veur,  he  said, 
If  the  giant  bold  would  give  him  bait. 


Hymir  spake: 

1 8.  “Go  to  the  herd,  if  thou  hast  it  in  mind, 
Thou  slayer  of  giants,  thy  bait  to  seek; 
For  there  thou  soon  mayst  find,  methinks, 
Bait  from  the  oxen  easy  to  get.” 

19.  Swift  to  the  wood  the  hero  went, 

Till  before  him  an  ox  all  black  he  found  ; 
From  the  beast  the  slayer  of  giants  broke 
The  fortress  high  of  his  double  horns. 


20. 


Hymir  spake: 

Thy  works,  methinks,  are  worse  by  far, 


17.  The  manuscripts  indicate  no  lacuna,  and  many  editors 
unite  stanza  17  with  lines  1  and  2  of  18.  Sijmons  and  Gering 
assume  a  gap  after  these  two  lines,  but  it  seems  more  probable 
that  the  missing  passage,  if  any,  belonged  before  them,  supplying 
the  connection  with  the  previous  stanza. 

18.  The  manuscripts  have  no  superscription.  Many  editors 
combine  lines  3  and  4  with  lines  1  and  2  of  stanza  19.  In  Snorri’s 
extended  paraphrase  of  the  story,  Hymir  declines  to  go  fishing 
with  Thor  on  the  ground  that  the  latter  is  too  small  a  person  to 
be  worth  bothering  about.  “You  would  freeze,”  he  says,  “if  you 
stayed  out  in  mid-ocean  as  long  as  I  generally  do.”  Bait  (line 
4)  :  the  word  literally  means  “chaff,”  hence  any  small  bits;  Hymir 
means  that  Thor  should  collect  dung  for  bait. 

19.  Many  editors  combine  lines  3  and  4  with  stanza  20.  Fort¬ 
ress,  etc.:  the  ox’s  head;  cf.  introductory  note  concerning  the 
diction  of  this  poem.  Several  editors  assume  a  lacuna  after  stanza 
19,  but  this  seems  unnecessary. 

[  144] 


Hymiskvitha 

Thou  steerer  of  ships,  than  when  still  thou  sit- 
test.” 


21.  The  lord  of  the  goats  bade  the  ape-begotten 
Farther  to  steer  the  steed  of  the  rollers; 

But  the  giant  said  that  his  will,  forsooth, 
Longer  to  row  was  little  enough. 

22.  Two  whales  on  his  hook  did  the  mighty  Hymir 
Soon  pull  up  on  a  single  cast; 

In  the  stern  the  kinsman  of  Othin  sat, 

And  Veur  with  cunning  his  cast  prepared. 

23.  The  warder  of  men,  the  worm’s  destroyer, 
Fixed  on  his  hook  the  head  of  the  ox; 

There  gaped  at  the  bait  the  foe  of  the  gods, 

The  girdler  of  all  the  earth  beneath. 


20.  The  manuscripts  have  no  superscription.  Steerer  of  ships: 
probably  merely  a  reference  to  Thor’s  intention  to  go  fishing. 
The  lacuna  after  stanza  20  is  assumed  by  most  editors. 

21.  Lord  of  the  goats:  Thor,  because  of  his  goat-drawn  char¬ 
iot.  Ape-begotten:  Hymir;  the  word  “api,”  rare  until  relatively 
late  times  in  its  literal  sense,  is  fairly  common  with  the  meaning 
of  “fool.”  Giants  were  generally  assumed  to  be  stupid.  Steed  of 
the  rollers:  a  ship,  because  boats  were  pulled  up  on  shore  by 
means  of  rollers. 

23.  IVarder  of  men:  Thor;  cf.  stanza  n.  JVorm’s  destroyer: 
likewise  Thor,  who  in  the  last  battle  slays,  and  is  slain  by,  Mith- 
garthsorm;  cf.  Voluspo,  56.  The  foe  of  the  gods:  Mithgarths- 
01m,  who  lies  in  the  sea,  and  surrounds  the  whole  earth. 

[145] 


Poetic  Edda 


24.  The  venomous  serpent  swiftly  up 

To  the  boat  did  Thor,  the  bold  one,  pull; 
With  his  hammer  the  loathly  hill  of  the  hair 
Of  the  brother  of  Fenrir  he  smote  from  above. 

25.  The  monsters  roared,  and  the  rocks  resounded, 
And  all  the  earth  so  old  was  shaken ; 


Then  sank  the  fish  in  the  sea  forthwith. 

26.  .  . 

Joyless  as  back  they  rowed  was  the  giant; 
Speechless  did  Hymir  sit  at  the  oars, 

With  the  rudder  he  sought  a  second  wind. 

Hymir  spake: 

27.  “The  half  of  our  toil  wilt  thou  have  with  me, 


24.  Hill  of  the  hair:  head, — a  thoroughly  characteristic  skal- 
dic  phrase.  Brother  of  Fenrir:  Mithgarthsorm  was,  like  the 
wolf  Fenrir  and  the  goddess  Hel,  born  to  Loki  and  the  giantess 
Angrbotha  (cf.  Voluspo,  39  and  note),  and  I  have  translated 
this  line  accordingly;  but  the  word  used  in  the  text  has  been 
guessed  as  meaning  almost  anything  from  “comrade”  to  “enemy.” 

25.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscripts,  but  that  a  line  or 
more  has  been  lost  is  highly  probable.  In  Snorri’s  version,  Thor 
pulls  so  hard  on  the  line  that  he  drives  both  his  feet  through  the 
flooring  of  the  boat,  and  stands  on  bottom.  When  he  pulls  the 
serpent  up,  Hymir  cuts  the  line  with  his  bait-knife,  which  ex¬ 
plains  the  serpent’s  escape.  Thor,  in  a  rage,  knocks  Hymir  over¬ 
board  with  his  hammer,  and  then  wades  ashore.  The  lines  of 
stanzas  25  and  26  have  been  variously  grouped. 

26.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscripts,  but  line  2  begins 
with  a  small  letter.  A  second  wind:  another  direction,  i.  e.,  he  put 
about  for  the  shore. 


[146] 


Hymiskvitha 

And  now  make  fast  our  goat  of  the  flood ; 

Or  home  wilt  thou  bear  the  whales  to  the  house, 
Across  the  gorge  of  the  wooded  glen?” 

28.  Hlorrithi  stood  and  the  stem  he  gripped, 

And  the  sea-horse  with  water  awash  he  lifted ; 
Oars  and  bailer  and  all  he  bore 

With  the  surf-swine  home  to  the  giant’s  house. 

29.  His  might  the  giant  again  would  match, 

For  stubborn  he  was,  with  the  strength  of  Thor; 
None  truly  strong,  though  stoutly  he  rowed, 
Would  he  call  save  one  who  could  break  the  cup. 

30.  Hlorrithi  then,  when  the  cup  he  held, 

Struck  with  the  glass  the  pillars  of  stone; 

As  he  sat  the  posts  in  pieces  he  shattered, 

Yet  the  glass  to  Hymir  whole  they  brought. 

31.  But  the  loved  one  fair  of  the  giant  found 
A  counsel  true,  and  told  her  thought : 


27.  No  superscription  in  the  manuscripts.  In  its  place  Bugge 
supplies  a  line — “These  words  spake  Hymir,  the  giant  wise.” 
The  manuscripts  reverse  the  order  of  lines  2  and  3,  and  in  both 
of  them  line  4  stands  after  stanza  28.  Goat  of  the  flood :  boat. 

28.  Sea-horse:  boat.  Surf-swine:  the  whales. 

29.  Snorri  says  nothing  of  this  episode  of  Hymir’s  cup.  The 
glass  which  cannot  be  broken  appears  in  the  folklore  of  various 
races. 

31.  The  loved  one:  Hymir’s  wife  and  Tyr’s  mother;  cf.  stanza 
8  and  note.  The  idea  that  a  giant’s  skull  is  harder  than  stone  or 
anything  else  is  characteristic  of  the  later  Norse  folk-stories,  and 

[  147] 


Poetic  Edda 


“Smite  the  skull  of  Hymir,  heavy  with  food, 
For  harder  it  is  than  ever  was  glass.” 


3  2. 


The  goats’  mighty  ruler 
And  with  all  the  strength 
Whole  was  the  fellow’s 
But  shattered  the  wine-cup 


then  rose  on  his  knee, 
of  a  god  he  struck; 
helmet-stem, 
rounded  was. 


Hymir  spake: 

33.  “Fair  is  the  treasure  that  from  me  is  gone, 
Since  now  the  cup  on  my  knees  lies  shattered 
So  spake  the  giant:  “No  more  can  I  say 

In  days  to  be,  ‘Thou  art  brewed,  mine  ale.’ 


34.  “Enough  shall  it  be  if  out  ye  can  bring 
Forth  from  our  house  the  kettle  here.” 
Tyr  then  twice  to  move  it  tried, 

But  before  him  the  kettle  twice  stood  fast. 


35.  The  father  of  Mothi  the  rim  seized  firm, 
And  before  it  stood  on  the  floor  below ; 

Up  on  his  head  Sif’s  husband  raised  it, 
And  about  his  heels  the  handles  clattered. 


in  one  of  the  so-called  “mythical  sagas”  we  find  a  giant  actually 
named  Hard-Skull. 

32.  Helmet-stem:  head. 

33.  The  manuscripts  have  no  superscription.  Line  4  in  the 
manuscripts  is  somewhat  obscure,  and  Bugge,  followed  by  some 
editors,  suggests  a  reading  which  may  be  rendered  (beginning 
with  the  second  half  of  line  3)  :  “No  more  can  I  speak  /  Ever 
again  as  I  spoke  of  old.” 

35.  The  father  of  Mothi  and  Sif’s  husband:  Thor. 

[  1481 


Hymiskvitha 

36.  Not  long  had  they  fared,  ere  backwards  looked 
The  son  of  Othin,  once  more  to  see; 

From  their  caves  in  the  east  beheld  he  coming 
With  Hymir  the  throng  of  the  many-headed. 

37.  He  stood  and  cast  from  his  back  the  kettle, 

And  Mjollnir,  the  lover  of  murder,  he  wielded; 

So  all  the  whales  of  the  waste  he  slew. 

38.  Not  long  had  they  fared  ere  one  there  lay 

Of  Hlorrithi’s  goats  half-dead  on  the  ground ; 

In  his  leg  the  pole-horse  there  was  lame ; 

The  deed  the  evil  Loki  had  done. 


36.  The  many-headed:  The  giants,  although  rarely  desig¬ 
nated  as  a  race  in  this  way,  sometimes  had  two  or  more  heads; 
cf.  stanza  8,  Skirnismol,  31  and  Vafthruthnismol ,  33.  Hymir’s 
mother  is,  however,  the  only  many-headed  giant  actually  to  ap¬ 
pear  in  the  action  of  the  poems,  and  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the 
tradition  as  a  whole  belongs  to  the  period  of  Norse  folk-tales  of 
the  marchen  order. 

37.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscripts.  Some  editors  put 
the  missing  line  as  2,  some  as  3,  and  some,  leaving  the  present 
three  lines  together,  add  a  fourth,  and  metrically  incorrect,  one 
from  late  paper  manuscripts:  “Who  with  Hymir  followed 
after.”  Whales  of  the  waste:  giants. 

38.  According  to  Snorri,  when  Thor  set  out  with  Loki  (not 
Tyr)  for  the  giants’  land,  he  stopped  first  at  a  peasant’s  house 
(cf.  stanza  7  and  note).  There  he  proceeded  to  cook  his  own 
goats  for  supper.  The  peasant’s  son,  Thjalfi,  eager  to  get  at  the 
marrow,  split  one  of  the  leg-bones  with  his  knife.  The  next  morn¬ 
ing,  when  Thor  was  ready  to  proceed  with  his  journey,  he  called 
the  goats  to  life  again,  but  one  of  them  proved  irretrievably 
lame.  His  wrath  led  the  peasant  to  give  him  both  his  children  as 

[149] 


Poetic  Edda 


39.  But  ye  all  have  heard, —  for  of  them  who  have 

The  tales  of  the  gods,  who  better  can  tell? — 


What  prize  he  won 
Who  both  his  children 

40.  The  mighty  one  came 
And  the  kettle  he  had 
So  gladly  their  ale 
In  Ægir’s  hall  at 


from  the  wilderness-dweller, 
gave  him  to  boot. 

to  the  council  of  gods, 
that  Hymir’s  was ; 
e  gods  could  drink 
e  autumn-time. 


servants  (cf.  stanza  39).  Snorri  does  not  indicate  that  Loki  was 
in  any  way  to  blame. 

39.  This  deliberate  introduction  of  the  story-teller  is  exceed¬ 
ingly  rare  in  the  older  poetry. 

40.  The  translation  of  the  last  two  lines  is  mostly  guess¬ 
work,  as  the  word  rendered  “gods”  is  uncertain,  and  the  one 
rendered  “at  the  autumn-time”  is  quite  obscure. 


[ISO] 


LOKASENNA 

Loki  s  Wrangling 

Introductory  Note 

The  Lokasenna  is  found  only  in  Regius,  where  it  follows  the 
Hymiskvitha;  Snorri  quotes  four  lines  of  it,  grouped  together  as 
a  single  stanza. 

The  poem  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  the  entire  collection, 
and  seems  to  have  been  preserved  in  exceptionally  good  condi¬ 
tion.  The  exchange  or  contest  of  insults  was  dear  to  the  Norse 
heart,  and  the  Lokasenna  consists  chiefly  of  Loki’s  taunts  to  the 
assembled  gods  and  goddesses,  and  their  largely  ineffectual  at¬ 
tempts  to  talk  back  to  him.  The  author  was  evidently  well  versed 
in  mythological  lore,  and  the  poem  is  full  of  references  to  inci¬ 
dents  not  elsewhere  recorded.  As  to  its  date  and  origin  there  is 
the  usual  dispute,  but  the  latter  part  of  the  tenth  century  and 
Iceland  seem  the  best  guesses. 

The  prose  notes  are  long  and  of  unusual  interest.  The  intro¬ 
ductory  one  links  the  poem  closely  to  the  Hymiskvitha,  much  as 
the  Reginsmol,  Fafnismol  and  Sigrdrifumol  are  linked  together; 
the  others  fill  in  the  narrative  gaps  in  the  dialogue — very  like 
stage  directions, — and  provide  a  conclusion  by  relating  Loki’s 
punishment,  which,  presumably,  is  here  connected  with  the  wrong 
incident.  It  is  likely  that  often  when  the  poem  was  recited  during 
the  two  centuries  or  so  before  it  was  committed  to  writing,  the 
speaker  inserted  some  such  explanatory  comments,  and  the  com¬ 
piler  of  the  collection  followed  this  example  by  adding  such  ex¬ 
planations  as  he  thought  necessary.  The  Lokasenna  is  certainly 
much  older  than  the  Hymiskvitha,  the  connection  between  them 
being  purely  one  of  subject-matter;  and  the  twelfth-century  com¬ 
piler  evidently  knew  a  good  deal  less  about  mythology  than  the 
author  whose  work  he  was  annotating. 


Ægir,  who  was  also  called  Gymir,  had  prepared  ale  for 
the  gods,  after  he  had  got  the  mighty  kettle,  as  now  has 
been  told.  To  this  feast  came  Othin  and  Frigg,  his  wife. 
Thor  came  not,  as  he  was  on  a  journey  in  the  East.  Sif, 

[151] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor’s  wife,  was  there,  and  Bragi  with  Ithun,  his  wife. 
Tyr,  who  had  but  one  hand,  was  there;  the  wolf  Fenrir 
had  bitten  off  his  other  hand  when  they  had  bound  him. 
There  were  Njorth  and  Skathi  his  wife,  Freyr  and  Freyja, 
and  Vithar,  the  son  of  Othin.  Loki  was  there,  and  Freyr’s 


Prose.  Ægir:  the  sea-god;  Snorri  gives  Hler  as  another  of 
his  names,  but  he  is  not  elsewhere  called  Gymir,  which  is  the 
name  of  the  giant,  Gerth’s  father,  in  the  Skirnismol.  On  Ægir 
cf.  Grimnismol,  45,  and  Hymiskvitha,  1.  Frlgg:  though  Othin’s 
wife  is  often  mentioned,  she  plays  only  a  minor  part  in  the  Eddie 
poems;  cf.  Voluspo,  34,  V afthruthnismol,  1,  and  Grimnismol,  in¬ 
troductory  prose.  Thor:  the  compiler  is  apparently  a  trifle  con¬ 
fused  as  to  Thor’s  movements;  the  “journey  in  the  East”  here 
mentioned  cannot  be  the  one  described  in  the  Hymiskvitha,  nor 
yet  the  one  narrated  by  Snorri,  as  Loki  was  with  Thor  through¬ 
out  that  expedition.  He  probably  means  no  more  than  that  Thor 
was  off  killing  giants.  Sif:  concerning  Thor’s  wife  the  chief 
incident  is  that  Loki  cut  off  her  hair,  and,  at  the  command  of  the 
wrathful  Thor,  was  compelled  to  have  the  dwarfs  fashion  her 
a  new  supply  of  hair  out  of  gold;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  48.  Bragi: 
the  god  of  poetry;  cf.  Grimnismol,  44  and  note.  Ithun:  the  god¬ 
dess  of  youth;  cf.  note  on  Skirnismol,  19.  Ithun  is  not  mentioned 
by  name  in  any  other  of  the  Eddie  poems,  but  Snorri  tells  in 
detail  how  the  giant  Thjazi  stole  her  and  her  apples,  explaining 
the  reference  in  Harbarthsljoth,  19  (q.  v.).  Tyr:  the  god  of  bat¬ 
tle;  cf.  Hymiskv'itha,  4,  and  (concerning  his  dealings  with  the 
wolf  Fenrir)  Voluspo,  39,  note.  Njorth:  the  chief  of  the  Wanes, 
and  father  of  Freyr  and  Freyja ;  cf.  (concerning  the  whole  fam¬ 
ily)  Skirnismol,  introductory  prose  and  note,  also  Voluspo,  21 
and  note.  Skathi:  Njorth’s  wife  was  the  daughter  of  the  giant 
Thjazi;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  19,  note,  and  Grimnismol,  11.  Vithar: 
the  silent  god,  the  son  of  Othin  who  avenged  his  father  by  slaying 
the  wolf  Fenrir;  cf.  Voluspo,  54,  V afthruthnismol,  51,  and  Grim¬ 
nismol,  17.  Loki:  the  mischief-making  fire-god ;  in  addition  to  the 
many  references  to  his  career  in  the  Lokasenna,  cf.  particularly 
Voluspo,  32  and  35,  and  notes.  Byggvir  and  Beyla:  not  men¬ 
tioned  elsewhere  in  the  poems;  Freyr’s  conspicuous  servant  is 
Skirnir,  hero  of  the  Skirnismol.  Fimafeng  (“The  Swift  Handler”) 

[  152] 


Lokasenna 

servants  Byggvir  and  Beyla.  Many  were  there  of  the  gods 
and  elves. 

Ægir  had  two  serving-men,  Fimafeng  and  Eldir.  Glit¬ 
tering  gold  they  had  in  place  of  firelight;  the  ale  came  in 
of  itself;  and  great  was  the  peace.  The  guests  praised 
much  the  ability  of  Ægir’s  serving-men.  Loki  might  not 
endure  that,  and  he  slew  Fimafeng.  Then  the  gods  shook 
their  shields  and  howled  at  Loki  and  drove  him  away  to 
the  forest,  and  thereafter  set  to  drinking  again.  Loki 
turned  back,  and  outside  he  met  Eldir.  Loki  spoke  to  him : 

1.  “Speak  now,  Eldir,  for  not  one  step 

Farther  shalt  thóu  fare; 

What  ale-talk  here  do  they  have  within, 

The  sons  of  the  glorious  gods?” 

Eldir  spake : 

2.  “Of  their  weapons  they  talk,  and  their  might  in 

war, 

The  sons  of  the  glorious  gods ; 

From  the  gods  and  elves  who  are  gathered  here 

No  friend  in  words  shalt  thou  find.” 

Loki  spake: 

3.  “In  shall  I  go  into  Ægir’s  hall, 

For  the  feast  I  fain  would  see; 


and  Eldir  (“The  Man  of  the  Fire”)  :  mentioned  only  in  connec¬ 
tion  with  this  incident.  Glittering  gold:  Ægir’s  use  of  gold  to 
light  his  hall,  which  was  often  thought  of  as  under  the  sea,  was 
responsible  for  the  phrase  “flame  of  the  flood,”  and  sundry  kin¬ 
dred  phrases,  meaning  “gold.” 


[153] 


Poetic  Edda 


Bale  and  hatred  I  bring  to  the  gods, 

And  their  mead  with  venom  I  mix.” 

Eldir  spake: 

4.  “If  in  thou  goest  to  Ægir’s  hall, 

And  fain  the  feast  wouldst  see, 

And  with  slander  and  spite  wouldst  sprinkle  the 
gods, 

Think  well  lest  they  wipe  it  on  thee.” 

Loki  spake: 

5.  “Bethink  thee,  Eldir,  if  thou  and  I 

Shall  strive  with  spiteful  speech ; 

Richer  I  grow  in  ready  words 
If  thou  speakest  too  much  to  me.” 

Then  Loki  went  into  the  hall,  but  when  they  who  were 
there  saw  who  had  entered,  they  were  all  silent. 

Loki  spake: 

6.  “Thirsty  I  come  into  this  thine  hall, 

I,  Lopt,  from  a  journey  long, 

To  ask  of  the  gods  that  one  should  give 
Fair  mead  for  a  drink  to  me. 

7.  “Why  sit  ye  silent,  swollen  with  pride, 

Ye  gods,  and  no  answer  give? 

6.  Lopt:  like  Lotliur  (cf.  Voluspo,  18)  another  name  for  Loki; 
cf.  Hyndluljoth,  43,  and  S<vipdagsmol,  42. 

7.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  begins  with  a  small  letter, 
and  Heinzel  unites  it  with  stanza  6. 

[154] 


Lokasenna 


At  your  feast  a  place  and  a  seat  prepare  me, 

Or  bid  me  forth  to  fare.” 

Bragi  spake: 

8.  “A  place  and  a  seat  will  the  gods  prepare 

No  more  in  their  midst  for  thee; 

For  the  gods  know  well  what  men  they  wish 
To  find  at  their  mighty  feasts.” 

Loki  spake: 

9.  “Remember,  Othin,  in  olden  days 

That  we  both  our  blood  have  mixed  ; 

Then  didst  thou  promise  no  ale  to  pour, 

Unless  it  were  brought  for  us  both.” 

Othin  spake: 

10.  “Stand  forth  then,  Vithar,  and  let  the  wolf’s 
father 

Find  a  seat  at  our  feast ; 


8.  Bragi:  cf.  note  on  introductory  prose.  Why  Loki  taunts  him 
with  cowardice  (stanzas  n-13-15)  is  not  clear,  for  poetry,  of 
which  Bragi  was  the  patron,  was  generally  associated  in  the 
Norse  mind  with  peculiar  valor,  and  most  of  the  skaldic  poets 
were  likewise  noted  fighters. 

9.  There  exists  no  account  of  any  incident  in  which  Othin  and 
Loki  thus  swore  blood-brotherhood,  but  they  were  so  often  allied 
in  enterprises  that  the  idea  is  wholly  reasonable.  The  common 
process  of  “mingling  blood”  was  carried  out  quite  literally,  and 
the  promise  of  which  Loki  speaks  is  characteristic  of  those  which, 
in  the  sagas,  often  accompanied  the  ceremony;  cf.  Brot  af  Sigur- 
tharkvithu,  18  and  note. 

10.  In  stanzas  10-31  the  manuscript  has  nothing  to  indicate  the 
identity  of  the  several  speakers,  but  these  are  uniformly  clear 

[155] 


Poetic  Edda 


Lest  evil  should  Loki  speak  aloud 
Here  within  Ægir’s  hall.’’ 

Then  Vithar  arose  and  poured  drink  for  Loki ;  but  be¬ 
fore  he  drank  he  spoke  to  the  gods: 

11.  ‘‘Hail  to  you,  gods!  ye  goddesses,  hail! 

Hail  to  the  holy  throng! 

Save  for  the  god  who  yonder  sits, 

Bragi  there  on  the  bench.” 

Bragi  spake : 

12.  “A  horse  and  a  sword  from  my  hoard  will  I  give, 

And  a  ring  gives  Bragi  to  boot, 

That  hatred  thou  makst  not  among  the  gods; 

So  rouse  not  the  great  ones  to  wrath.” 

Loki  spake: 

13.  “In  horses  and  rings  thou  shalt  never  be  rich, 

Bragi,  but  both  shalt  thou  lack; 

Of  the  gods  and  elves  here  together  met 
Least  brave  in  battle  art  thou, 

(And  shyest  thou  art  of  the  shot.)” 

Bragi  spake: 

14.  “Now  were  I  without  as  I  am  within, 


enough  through  the  context.  Vithar:  cf.  note  on  introductory 
prose.  The  <ivolf’s  father:  Loki;  cf.  Voluspo,  39  and  note. 

13.  Sijmons  makes  one  line  of  lines  4-5  by  cutting  out  a  part 
of  each;  Finnur  Jonsson  rejects  5  as  spurious. 

14.  The  text  of  line  4  is  somewhat  obscure,  and  has  been 

[156] 


Lokasenna 


And  here  in  Ægir’s  hall, 

Thine  head  would  I  bear  in  mine  hands  away, 
And  pay  thee  the  price  of  thy  lies.” 

Loki  spake: 

15.  “In  thy  seat  art  thou  bold,  not  so  are  thy  deeds, 

Bragi,  adorner  of  benches! 

Go  out  and  fight  if  angered  thou  feelest, 

No  hero  such  forethought  has.” 

Ithun  spake: 

16.  “Well,  prithee,  Bragi,  his  kinship  weigh, 

Since  chosen  as  wish-son  he  was ; 

And  speak  not  to  Loki  such  words  of  spite 
Here  within  Ægir’s  hall.” 

Loki  spake: 

17.  “Be  silent,  Ithun!  thou  art,  I  say, 


variously  emended,  one  often  adopted  suggestion  making  the 
line  read,  “Little  is  that  for  thy  lies.” 

15.  Adorner  of  benches:  this  epithet  presumably  implies  that 
Bragi  is  not  only  slothful,  but  also  effeminate,  for  a  very  similar 
word,  “pride  of  the  benches,”  means  a  bride. 

16.  Ithun:  Bragi’s  wife;  cf.  note  on  introductory  prose.  The 
goddesses  who,  finding  that  their  husbands  are  getting  the  worst 
of  it,  take  up  the  cudgels  with  Loki,  all  find  themselves  con¬ 
fronted  with  undeniable  facts  in  their  own  careers;  cf.  stanzas 
26  (Frigg),  52  (Skathi)  and  54  (Sif).  Gefjun  and  Freyja  are 
silenced  in  similar  fashion.  Wish-son:  adopted  son;  Loki  was  the 
son  of  the  giant  Farbauti  and  the  giantess  Laufey,  and  hence  was 
not  of  the  race  of  the  gods,  but  had  been  virtually  adopted  by 
Othin,  who  subsequently  had  good  reason  to  regret  it. 

[157] 


Poetic  Edda 


Of  women  most  lustful  in  love, 

Since  thou  thy  washed-bright  arms  didst  wind 
About  thy  brother’s  slayer.” 

Ithun  spake: 

1 8.  “To  Loki  I  speak  not  with  spiteful  words 

Here  within  Ægir’s  hall; 

And  Bragi  I  calm,  who  is  hot  with  beer, 

For  I  wish  not  that  fierce  they  should  fight.” 

Gefjun  spake: 

19.  “Why,  ye  gods  twain,  with  bitter  tongues 

Raise  hate  among  us  here? 

Loki  is  famed  for  his  mockery  foul, 

And  the  dwellers  in  heaven  he  hates.” 

Loki  spake: 

20.  “Be  silent,  Gefjun!  for  now  shall  I  say 

Who  led  thee  to  evil  life ; 

The  boy  so  fair  gave  a  necklace  bright, 

And  about  him  thy  leg  was  laid.” 


17.  We  do  not  even  know  who  Ithun’s  brother  was,  much  less 
who  slew  him. 

19.  Gefjun:  a  goddess,  not  elsewhere  mentioned  in  the  poems, 
who,  according  to  Snorri,  was  served  by  the  women  who  died 
maidens.  Beyond  this  nothing  is  known  of  her.  Lines  3-4  in  the 
manuscript  are  puzzling,  and  have  been  freely  emended. 

20.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  incident  here  mentioned.  There  is 
a  good  deal  of  confusion  as  to  various  of  the  gods  and  goddesses, 
and  it  has  been  suggested  that  Gefjun  is  really  Frigg  under  an¬ 
other  name,  with  a  little  of  Freyja — whose  attributes  were  fre¬ 
quently  confused  with  Frigg’s — thrown  in.  Certainly  Othin’s 

[  158] 


Lokasenna 


Othin  spake: 

21.  “Mad  art  thou,  Loki,  and  little  of  wit, 

The  wrath  of  Gefjun  to  rouse; 

For  the  fate  that  is  set  for  all  she  sees, 

Even  as  I,  methinks.” 

Loki  spake: 

22.  “Be  silent,  Othin!  not  justly  thou  settest 

The  fate  of  the  fight  among  men ; 

Oft  gavst  thou  to  him  who  deserved  not  the  gift, 
To  the  baser,  the  battle’s  prize.” 

Othin  spake: 

23.  “Though  I  gave  to  him  who  deserved  not  the  gift, 

To  the  baser,  the  battle’s  prize; 

Winters  eight  wast  thou  under  the  earth, 
Milking  the  cows  as  a  maid, 

(Ay,  and  babes  didst  thou  bear; 

Unmanly  thy  soul  must  seem.)” 


answer  (stanza  21,  lines  3-4)  fits  Frigg  perfectly,  for  she  shared 
his  knowledge  of  the  future,  whereas  it  has  no  relation  to  any¬ 
thing  known  of  Gefjun.  As  for  the  necklace  (line  3),  it  may  be 
the  Brisings’  necklace,  which  appears  in  the  Thrymskvitha  as 
Freyja’s,  but  which,  in  some  mythological  writings,  is  assigned 
to  Frigg. 

21.  Snorri  quotes  line  1 ;  cf.  note  on  stanza  29. 

23.  There  is  no  other  reference  to  Loki’s  having  spent  eight 
years  underground,  or  to  his  cow-milking.  On  one  occasion, 
however,  he  did  bear  offspring.  A  giant  had  undertaken  to  build 
the  gods  a  fortress,  his  reward  being  Freyja  and  the  sun  and 
moon,  provided  the  work  was  done  by  a  given  time.  His  sole 
helper  was  his  horse,  Svathilfari.  The  work  being  nearly  done, 
and  the  gods  fearing  to  lose  Freyja  and  the  sun  and  moon,  Loki 

[159] 


Poetic  Edda 


Loki  spake: 

24.  “They  say  that  with  spells  in  Samsey  once 

Like  witches  with  charms  didst  thou  work; 
And  in  witch’s  guise  among  men  didst  thou  go ; 
Unmanly  thy  soul  must  seem.” 

Frigg  spake: 

25.  “Of  the  deeds  ye  two  of  old  have  done 

Ye  should  make  no  speech  among  men; 

Whate’er  ye  have  done  in  days  gone  by, 

Old  tales  should  ne’er  be  told.” 

Loki  spake: 

26.  “Be  silent,  Frigg!  thou  art  Fjorgyn’s  wife, 

But  ever  lustful  in  love ; 

For  Vili  and  Ve,  thou  wife  of  Vithrir, 

Both  in  thy  bosom  have  lain.” 


turned  himself  into  a  mare,  and  so  effectually  distracted  Svathil- 
fari  from  his  task  that  shortly  afterwards  Loki  gave  birth  to 
Othin’s  eight-legged  horse,  Sleipnir.  In  such  contests  of  abuse  a 
man  was  not  infrequently  taunted  with  having  borne  children; 
cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  39-45.  One  or  two  of  the  last 
three  lines  may  be  spurious. 

24.  Samsey:  perhaps  the  Danish  island  of  Samsö.  Othin  was 
the  god  of  magic,  but  there  is  no  other  reference  to  his  ever 
having  disguised  himself  as  a  witch. 

25.  Trigg:  Othin’s  wife;  cf.  note  to  introductory  prose. 

26.  Fjorgyn :  Othin;  cf.  Voluspo,  56  and  note.  Vili  and  Ve: 
Othin’s  brothers,  who  appear  merely  as,  with  Othin,  the  sons  of 
Bur  and  Bestla;  cf.  Voluspo,  4.  The  Ynglingasaga  says  that, 
during  one  of  Othin’s  protracted  absences,  his  two  brothers  took 
Frigg  as  their  mistress.  Vithrir :  another  name  for  Othin. 

[  160] 


Lokasenna 


Frigg  spake : 

27.  “If  a  son  like  Baldr  were  by  me  now, 

Here  within  Ægir’s  hall, 

From  the  sons  of  the  gods  thou  shouldst  go  not 
forth 

Till  thy  fierceness  in  fight  were  tried.” 

Loki  spake: 

28.  “Thou  wilt  then,  Frigg,  that  further  I  tell 

Of  the  ill  that  now  I  know; 

Mine  is  the  blame  that  Baldr  no  more 
Thou  seest  ride  home  to  the  hall.” 

Frey]  a  spake: 

29.  “Mad  art  thou,  Loki,  that  known  thou  makest 

The  wrong  and  shame  thou  hast  wrought; 

Hie  fate  of  all  does  Frigg  know  well, 

Though  herself  she  says  it  not.” 

Loki  spake: 

30.  “Be  silent,  Freyja !  for  fully  I  know  thee, 

Sinless  thou  art  not  thyself; 

27.  On  the  death  of  Baldr,  slain  through  Loki’s  cunning  by 
the  blind  Hoth,  cf.  Voluspo,  32  and  note. 

29.  Freyja:  daughter  of  Njorth  and  sister  of  Freyr;  cf.  note 
on  introductory  prose.  Snorri,  in  speaking  of  Frigg’s  knowledge 
of  the  future,  makes  a  stanza  out  of  Lokasenna,  21,  1;  47,  2;  29, 
3-4,  thus:  “Mad  art  thou,  Loki,  and  little  of  wit,  /  Why, 
Loki,  leavst  thou  this  not?  /  The  fate  of  all  does  Frigg  know 
well,  /  Though  herself  she  says  it  not.” 

30.  According  to  Snorri,  Freyja  was  a  model  of  fidelity  to 
her  husband,  Oth. 


[161] 


Poetic  Edda 

Of  the  gods  and  elves  who  are  gathered  here, 
Each  one  as  thy  lover  has  lain.” 

Frey  j  a  spake: 

31.  “False  is  thy  tongue,  and  soon  shalt  thou  find 

That  it  sings  thee  an  evil  song; 

The  gods  are  wroth,  and  the  goddesses  all, 

And  in  grief  shalt  thou  homeward  go.” 

Loki  spake: 

32.  “Be  silent,  Freyja!  thou  foulest  witch, 

And  steeped  full  sore  in  sin ; 

In  the  arms  of  thy  brother  the  bright  gods  caught 

thee 

When  Freyja  her  wind  set  free.” 

Njorth  spake: 

33.  “Small  ill  does  it  work  though  a  woman  may  have 

A  lord  or  a  lover  or  both ; 

But  a  wonder  it  is  that  this  womanish  god 
Comes  hither,  though  babes  he  has  borne.” 


32.  Before  each  of  stanzas  32-42  the  manuscript  indicates  the 
speaker,  through  the  initial  letter  of  the  name  written  in  the 
margin.  Thy  brother:  Freyr;  there  is  no  other  indication  that 
such  a  relation  existed  between  these  two,  but  they  themselves 
were  the  product  of  such  a  union;  cf.  stanza  36  and  note. 

33.  Njorth:  father  of  Freyr  and  Freyja,  and  given  by  the 
Wanes  as  a  hostage,  in  exchange  for  Hönir,  at  the  close  of  the 
first  war;  cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note,  also  Skirnismol,  introductory 
prose  and  note.  Babes:  cf.  stanza  23  and  note.  Bugge  suggests 
that  this  clause  may  have  been  a  late  insertion. 

[162] 


Lokasenna 


Loki  spake: 

34.  “Be  silent,  Njorth;  thou  wast  eastward  sent, 

To  the  gods  as  a  hostage  given; 

And  the  daughters  of  Hymir  their  privy  had 
When  use  did  they  make  of  thy  mouth.” 

Njorth  spake: 

35.  “Great  was  my  gain,  though  long  was  I  gone, 

To  the  gods  as  a  hostage  given; 

The  son  did  I  have  whom  no  man  hates, 

And  foremost  of  gods  is  found.” 

Loki  spake: 

36.  “Give  heed  now,  Njorth,  nor  boast  too  high, 

No  longer  I  hold  it  hid; 

With  thy  sister  hadst  thou  so  fair  a  son, 

Thus  hadst  thou  no  worse  a  hope.” 

Tyr  spake: 

37.  “Of  the  heroes  brave  is  Freyr  the  best 

Here  in  the  home  of  the  gods ; 

34.  Daughters  of  Hymir:  we  have  no  clue  to  who  these  were, 
though  Hymir  is  doubtless  the  frost-giant  of  the  Hymiskvitha 
(q.v.).  Loki’s  point  is  that  Njorth  is  not  a  god,  but  the  product 
of  an  inferior  race  (the  Wanes). 

35.  The  son:  Freyr. 

36.  T hy  sister:  the  Ynglingasaga  supports  this  story  of  Nj  orth’s 
having  had  two  children  by  his  sister  before  he  came  among  the 
gods.  Snorri,  on  the  other  hand,  specifically  says  that  Freyr  and 
Freyja  were  born  after  Njorth  came  to  the  gods. 

37.  Tyr:  the  god  of  battle;  cf.  notes  on  Hymiskvitha,  4,  and 
Voluspo,  39.  Freyr ;  concerning  his  noble  qualities  cf.  Skirnismol, 
introductory  prose  and  note. 

t  163] 


Poetic  Edda 


He  harms  not  maids  nor  the  wives  of  men, 

And  the  bound  from  their  fetters  he  frees.” 

Loki  spake: 

38.  “Be  silent,  Tyr!  for  between  two  men 

Friendship  thou  ne’er  couldst  fashion; 

Fain  would  I  tell  how  Fenrir  once 
Thy  right  hand  rent  from  thee.” 

Tyr  spake : 

39.  “My  hand  do  I  lack,  but  Hrothvitnir  thou, 

And  the  loss  brings  longing  to  both ; 

Ill  fares  the  wolf  who  shall  ever  await 
In  fetters  the  fall  of  the  gods.” 

Loki  spake : 

40.  “Be  silent,  Tyr!  for  a  son  with  me 

Thy  wife  once  chanced  to  win; 

Not  a  penny,  methinks,  wast  thou  paid  for  the 
wrong, 

Nor  wast  righted  an  inch,  poor  wretch.” 

Freyr  spake: 

41.  “By  the  mouth  of  the  river  the  wolf  remains 

38.  Snorri  mentions  Tyr’s  incompetence  as  a  peacemaker. 
Fenrir:  the  wolf,  Loki’s  son;  cf.  Voluspo,  39. 

39.  Hrothvitnir  (“The  Mighty  Wolf”)  :  Fenrir,  who  awaits 
in  chains  the  final  battle  and  death  at  the  hands  of  Vithar.  The 
manuscript  has  a  metrical  error  in  line  3,  which  has  led  to  vari¬ 
ous  emendations,  all  with  much  the  same  meaning. 

40.  Thy  wife:  there  is  no  other  reference  to  Tyr’s  wife,  nor 
do  we  know  who  was  the  son  in  question. 

[  164] 


Lokasenna 


Till  the  gods  to  destruction  go; 

Thou  too  shalt  soon,  if  thy  tongue  is  not  stilled, 
Be  fettered,  thou  forger  of  ill.” 

Loki  spake: 

42.  “The  daughter  of  Gymir  with  gold  didst  thou 

buy, 

And  sold  thy  sword  to  boot ; 

But  when  Muspell’s  sons  through  Myrkwood 
ride, 

Thou  shalt  weaponless  wait,  poor  wretch.” 

Byggvir  spake: 

43.  “Had  I  birth  so  famous  as  Ingunar-Freyr, 

And  sat  in  so  lofty  a  seat, 


41.  The  mouth  of  the  river:  according  to  Snorri,  the  chained 
Fenrir  “roars  horribly,  and  the  slaver  runs  from  his  mouth,  and 
makes  the  river  called  Vam;  he  lies  there  till  the  doom  of  the 
gods.”  Freyr’s  threat  is  actually  carried  out;  cf.  concluding  prose. 

42.  The  daughter  of  Gymir:  Gerth,  heroine  of  the  Skirnismol, 
which  gives  the  details  of  Freyr’s  loss  of  his  sword.  Muspell’s 
sons:  the  name  Muspell  is  not  used  elsewhere  in  the  poems; 
Snorri  uses  it  frequently,  but  only  in  this  same  phrase,  “MuspelPs 
sons.”  They  are  the  dwellers  in  the  fire-world,  Muspellsheim,  led 
by  Surt  against  the  gods  in  the  last  battle;  cf.  Voluspo,  47  and  52 
and  notes.  Myrkvuood:  here  the  dark  forest  bounding  the  fire- 
world;  in  the  Atlakvitha  (stanza  3)  the  name  is  used  of  an¬ 
other  boundary  forest. 

43.  Byggvir:  one  of  Freyr’s  two  servants;  cf.  introductory 
prose.  Ingunar-Freyr :  the  name  is  not  used  elsewhere  in  the 
poems,  or  by  Snorri;  it  may  be  the  genitive  of  a  woman’s  name, 
Ingun,  the  unknown  sister  of  Njorth  who  was  Freyr’s  mother 
(cf.  stanza  36),  or  a  corruption  of  the  name  Ingw,  used  for  Freyr 
(Fro)  in  old  German  mythology. 

[165] 


Poetic  Edda 


I  would  crush  to  marrow  this  croaker  of  ill, 

And  beat  all  his  body  to  bits.” 

Loki  spake : 

44.  “What  little  creature  goes  crawling  there, 

Snuffling  and  snapping  about? 

At  Freyr’s  ears  ever  wilt  thou  be  found, 

Or  muttering  hard  at  the  mill.” 

Byggvir  spake: 

45.  “Byggvir  my  name,  and  nimble  am  I, 

As  gods  and  men  do  grant; 

And  here  am  I  proud  that  the  children  of  Hropt 
Together  all  drink  ale.” 

Loki  spake: 

46.  “Be  silent,  Byggvir!  thou  never  couldst  set 

Their  shares  of  the  meat  for  men ; 

Hid  in  straw  on  the  floor,  they  found  thee  not 
When  heroes  were  fain  to  fight.” 

Heimdall  spake: 

47.  “Drunk  art  thou,  Loki,  and  mad  are  thy  deeds, 

Why,  Loki,  leavst  thou  this  not? 


44.  Beginning  with  this  stanza,  the  names  of  the  speakers  are 
lacking  in  the  manuscript.  The  mill:  i.e.,  at  slaves’  tasks. 

45.  Nothing  further  is  known  of  either  Byggvir’s  swiftness  or 
his  cowardice.  Hropt:  Othin. 

47.  Heimdall:  besides  being  the  watchman  of  the  gods  (cf. 
Volusþo,  27),  he  appears  also  as  the  god  of  light  (cf.  Thryms- 
kvitha,  14),  and  possibly  also  as  a  complex  cultural  deity  in  the 

[  166  ] 


Lokasenna 


For  drink  beyond  measure  will  lead  all  men 
No  thought  of  their  tongues  to  take.” 

Loki  spake: 

48.  “Be  silent,  Heimdall!  in  days  long  since 

Was  an  evil  fate  for  thee  fixed; 

With  back  held  stiff  must  thou  ever  stand, 

As  warder  of  heaven  to  watch.” 

Skathi  spake: 

49.  “Light  art  thou,  Loki,  but  longer  thou  mayst  not 

In  freedom  flourish  thy  tail  ; 

On  the  rocks  the  gods  bind  thee  with  bowels  torn 
Forth  from  thy  frost-cold  son.” 

Loki  spake: 

50.  “Though  on  rocks  the  gods  bind  me  with  bowels 

torn 

Forth  from  my  frost-cold  son, 


Rigsthula.  He  was  a  son  of  Othin,  born  of  nine  sisters;  cf. 
Hyndluljoth,  37-40.  In  the  last  battle  he  and  Loki  slay  one  an¬ 
other.  Line  2  is  quoted  by  Snorri;  cf.  stanza  29,  note. 

49.  Skathi:  the  wife  of  Njorth,  and  daughter  of  the  giant 
Thjazi,  concerning  whose  death  cf.  Harbarthsljoth ,  19,  note. 
Bowels,  etc.:  according  to  the  prose  note  at  the  end  of  the  Loka¬ 
senna,  the  gods  bound  Loki  with  the  bowels  of  his  son  Vali,  and 
changed  his  other  son,  Narfi,  into  a  wolf.  Snorri  turns  the  story 
about,  Vali  being  the  wolf,  who  tears  his  brother  to  pieces,  the 
gods  then  using  Narfi’s  intestines  to  bind  Loki.  Narfi — and  pre¬ 
sumably  Vali — were  the  sons  of  Loki  and  his  wife,  Sigyn.  They 
appear  only  in  this  episode,  though  Narfi  (or  Nari)  is  named  by 
Snorri  in  his  list  of  Loki’s  children.  Cf.  concluding  prose,  and 
note. 


[167] 


Poetic  Edda 


I  was  first  and  last  at  the  deadly  fight 
There  where  Thjazi  we  caught.” 

Skathi  spake: 

51.  “Wert  thou  first  and  last  at  the  deadly  fight 

There  where  Thjazi  was  caught, 

From  my  dwellings  and  fields  shall  ever  come 
forth 

A  counsel  cold  for  thee.” 

Loki  spake: 

52.  “More  lightly  thou  spakest  with  Laufey’s  son, 

When  thou  badst  me  come  to  thy  bed ; 

Such  things  must  be  known  if  now  we  two 
Shall  seek  our  sins  to  tell.” 

Then  Si-f  came  forward  and  poured  mead  for  Loki  in  a 
crystal  cup,  and  said: 

53.  “Hail  to  thee,  Loki,  and  take  thou  here 

The  crystal  cup  of  old  mead ; 

For  me  at  least,  alone  of  the  gods, 

Blameless  thou  knowest  to  be.” 


52.  Laufey’s  son :  Loki;  not  much  is  known  of  his  parents  be¬ 
yond  their  names.  His  father  was  the  giant  Farbauti,  his  mother 
Laufey,  sometimes  called  Nal.  There  is  an  elaborate  but  far¬ 
fetched  hypothesis  explaining  these  three  on  the  basis  of  a 
nature-myth.  There  is  no  other  reference  to  such  a  relation  be¬ 
tween  Skathi  and  Loki  as  he  here  suggests. 

53.  Sif :  Thor’s  wife;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  48,  where  her  infi¬ 
delity  is  again  mentioned.  The  manuscript  omits  the  proper  name 

[168] 


Lokasenna 


He  took  the  horn,  and  drank  therefrom : 

54.  “Alone  thou  wert  if  truly  thou  wouldst 

All  men  so  shyly  shun ; 

But  one  do  I  know  full  well,  methinks, 

Who  had  thee  from  Hlorrithi’s  arms, — 

(Loki  the  crafty  in  lies.)” 

Bey  la  spake: 

55.  “The  mountains  shake,  and  surely  I  think 

From  his  home  comes  Hlorrithi  now; 

He  will  silence  the  man  who  is  slandering  here 
Together  both  gods  and  men.” 

Loki  spake: 

56.  “Be  silent,  Beyla!  thou  art  Byggvir’s  wife, 

And  deep  art  thou  steeped  in  sin ; 

A  greater  shame  to  the  gods  came  ne’er, 
Befouled  thou  art  with  thy  filth.” 

Then  came  Thor  forth,  and  spake: 

57.  “Unmanly  one,  cease,  or  the  mighty  hammer, 

Mjollnir,  shall  close  thy  mouth ; 


from  the  preceding  prose,  and  a  few  editors  have,  obviously  in 
error,  attributed  the  speech  to  Beyla. 

54.  Hlorrithi:  Thor.  Line  5  is  probably  spurious. 

55.  Beyla:  Freyr’s  servant,  wife  of  Byggvir;  cf.  introductory 
prose  and  note. 

57.  Mjollnir:  concerning  Thor’s  famous  hammer  see  particu¬ 
larly  Thrymskvitha,  1  and  note.  Shoulder-cliff :  head;  concerning 

[  169] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thy  shoulder-cliff  shall  I  cleave  from  thy  neck, 
And  so  shall  thy  life  be  lost.” 

Loki  spake: 

58.  “Lo,  in  has  come  the  son  of  Earth : 

Why  threaten  so  loudly,  Thor  ? 

Less  fierce  thou  shalt  go  to  fight  with  the  wolf 
When  he  swallows  Sigfather  up.” 

Thor  spake : 

59-  “  Unmanly  one,  cease,  or  the  mighty  hammer, 
Mjollnir,  shall  close  thy  mouth; 

I  shall  hurl  thee  up  and  out  in  the  East, 
Where  men  shall  see  thee  no  more.” 

Loki  spake: 

60.  “That  thou  hast  fared  on  the  East-road  forth 
To  men  shouldst  thou  say  no  more; 


the  use  of  such  diction  in  the  Edda,  cf.  introductory  note  to 
Hymiskvitha.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning 
of  a  stanza,  but  this  is  apparently  a  scribal  error. 

58.  Son  of  Earth:  Thor,  son  of  Othin  and  Jorth  (Earth).  The 
manuscript  omits  the  word  “son,”  but  all  editors  have  agreed  in 
supplying  it.  The  wolf:  Fenrir,  Loki’s  son,  who  slays  Othin 
{Sigfather :  “Father  of  Victory”)  in  the  final  battle.  Thor,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Snorri  and  to  the  Voluspo,  56,  fights  with  Mithgarthsorm 
and  not  with  Fenrir,  who  is  killed  by  Vithar. 

59.  Lines  1-2  are  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript,  as  also  in 
stanzas  61  and  63. 

60.  Loki’s  taunt  that  Thor  hid  in  the  thumb  of  Skrymir’s 
glove  is  similar  to  that  of  Othin,  Harbarthsljoth,  26,  in  the  note 
to  which  the  story  is  outlined.  Line  4  is  identical  with  line  3  of 
Harbarthsljoth,  26. 


[  170] 


Lokasenna 


In  the  thumb  of  a  glove  didst  thou  hide,  thou 
great  one, 

And  there  forgot  thou  wast  Thor.” 

Thor  spake: 

■6 1.  “Unmanly  one,  cease,  or  the  mighty  hammer, 
Mjollnir,  shall  close  thy  mouth; 

My  right  hand  shall  smite  thee  with  Hrungnir’s 
slayer, 

Till  all  thy  bones  are  broken.” 

Loki  spake: 

62.  “A  long  time  still  do  I  think  to  live, 

Though  thou  threatenest  thus  with  thy  hammer; 
Rough  seemed  the  straps  of  Skrymir’s  wallet, 
When  thy  meat  thou  mightest  not  get, 

(And  faint  from  hunger  didst  feel.)” 

Thor  spake: 

63.  “Unmanly  one,  cease,  or  the  mighty  hammer, 

Mjollnir,  shall  close  thy  mouth  ; 

61.  Hrungnir’s  slayer:  the  hammer;  the  story  of  how  Thor 
slew  this  stone-headed  giant  is  indicated  in  Harbarthsljoth,  14-15, 
and  outlined  in  the  note  to  stanza  14  of  that  poem. 

62.  On  the  day  following  the  adventure  of  the  glove,  Thor, 
Loki  and  Thor’s  servants  proceed  on  their  way  in  company  with 
Skrymir,  who  puts  all  their  food  in  his  wallet.  At  evening 
Skrymir  goes  to  sleep,  and  Thor  tries  to  get  at  the  food,  but 
cannot  loosen  the  straps  of  the  wallet.  In  a  rage  he  smites 
Skrymir  three  times  on  the  head  with  his  hammer,  but  the  giant 
— who,  it  subsequently  appears,  deftly  dodges  the  blows — is 
totally  undisturbed.  Line  5  may  well  be  spurious. 

[171] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  slayer  of  Hrungnir  shall  send  thee  to  hell, 
And  down  to  the  gate  of  death.” 

Loki  spake: 

64.  “I  have  said  to  the  gods  and  the  sons  of  the  gods 

The  things  that  whetted  my  thoughts ; 

But  before  thee  alone  do  I  now  go  forth, 

For  thou  tightest  well,  I  ween. 

65.  “Ale  hast  thou  brewed,  but,  Ægir,  now 

Such  feasts  shalt  thou  make  no  more ; 

O’er  all  that  thou  hast  which  is  here  within 
Shall  play  the  flickering  flames, 

(And  thy  back  shall  be  burnt  with  fire.)” 

And  after  that  Loki  hid  himself  in  Franang’s  waterfall 
in  the  guise  of  a  salmon,  and  there  the  gods  took  him.  He 
was  bound  with  the  bowels  of  his  son  Vali,  but  his  son 
Narfi  was  changed  to  a  wolf.  Skathi  took  a  poison-snake 
and  fastened  it  up  over  Loki’s  face,  and  the  poison  dropped 
thereon.  Sigyn,  Loki’s  wife,  sat  there  and  held  a  shell 
under  the  poison,  but  when  the  shell  was  full  she  bore 
away  the  poison,  and  meanwhile  the  poison  dropped  on 
Loki.  Then  he  struggled  so  hard  that  the  whole  earth 
shook  therewith ;  and  now  that  is  called  an  earthquake. 


6 5.  The  flames:  the  fire  that  consumes  the  world  on  the  last 
day;  cf.  Voluspo,  57.  Line  5  may  be  spurious. 

Prose:  Snorri  tells  the  same  story,  with  minor  differences,  but 
makes  it  the  consequence  of  Loki’s  part  in  the  slaying  of  Baldr, 
which  undoubtedly  represents  the  correct  tradition.  The  compiler 
of  the  poems  either  was  confused  or  thought  the  incident  was 

[172] 


Lokasenna 


useful  as  indicating  what  finally  happened  to  Loki.  Possibly  he 
did  not  mean  to  imply  that  Loki’s  fate  was  brought  upon  him  by 
his  abuse  of  the  gods,  but  simply  tried  to  round  out  the  story. 
Franang:  “Gleaming  Water.”  Vali  and  Narfi:  cf.  stanza  49  and 
note.  Sigyn:  cf.  Voluspo,  35,  the  only  other  place  where  she  is 
mentioned  in  the  poems.  Snorri  omits  the  naive  note  about  earth¬ 
quakes,  his  narrative  ending  with  the  words,  “And  there  he  lies 
till  the  destruction  of  the  gods.” 


[173] 


THRYMSKVITHA 

The  Lay  of  Thrym 

Introductory  Note 

The  Thrymskvitha  is  found  only  in  the  Codex  Regius,  where 
it  follows  the  Lokasenna.  Snorri  does  not  quote  from  it,  nor, 
rather  oddly,  does  the  story  occur  in  the  Prose  Edda. 

Artistically  the  Thrymskvitha  is  one  of  the  best,  as  it  is,  next 
to  the  Voluspo,  the  most  famous,  of  the  entire  collection.  It  has, 
indeed,  been  called  “the  finest  ballad  in  the  world,”  and  not 
without  some  reason.  Its  swift,  vigorous  action,  the  sharpness  of 
its  characterization  and  the  humor  of  the  central  situation  com¬ 
bine  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  vivid  short  narrative  poems  ever 
composed.  Of  course  we  know  nothing  specific  of  its  author,  but 
there  can  be  no  question  that  he  was  a  poet  of  extraordinary 
ability.  The  poem  assumed  its  present  form,  most  critics  agree, 
somewhere  about  900,  and  thus  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  col¬ 
lection.  It  has  been  suggested,  on  the  basis  of  stylistic  similarity, 
that  its  author  may  also  have  composed  the  Skirnismol,  and 
possibly  Baldrs  Draumar.  There  is  also  some  resemblance  be¬ 
tween  the  Thrymskvitha  and  the  Lokasenna  (note,  in  this  con¬ 
nection,  Bugge’s  suggestion  that  the  Skirnismol  and  the  Loka¬ 
senna  may  have  been  by  the  same  man),  and  it  is  not  impossible 
that  all  four  poems  have  a  single  authorship. 

The  Thrymskvitha  has  been  preserved  in  excellent  condition, 
without  any  serious  gaps  or  interpolations.  In  striking  contrast  to 
many  of  the  poems,  it  contains  no  prose  narrative  links,  the  story 
being  told  in  narrative  verse — a  rare  phenomenon  in  the  poems 
of  the  Edda. 


i.  Wild  was  Vingthor  when  he  awoke, 

And  when  his  mighty  hammer  he  missed ; 


1.  Vingthor  (“Thor  the  Hurler”)  :  another  name  for  Thor, 
equivalent  to  Vingnir  ( Vafthruthnismol ,  51).  Concerning  Thor 
and  his  hammer,  Mjollnir,  cf.  Hymiskvitha,  Lokasenna,  and 
Harbarthsljoth,  passim.  Jorth:  Earth,  Thor’s  mother,  Othin  being 
his  father. 


[174] 


Thrymskvitha 

He  shook  his  beard,  his  hair  was  bristling, 
As  the  son  of  Jorth  about  him  sought. 

2.  Hear  now  the  speech  that  first  he  spake: 
“Harken,  Loki,  and  heed  my  words, 
Nowhere  on  earth  is  it  known  to  man, 

Nor  in  heaven  above:  our  hammer  is  stolen.” 


3.  To  the  dwelling  fair 
Hear  now  the  speech 
“Wilt  thou,  Freyja, 
That  so  my  hammer 


of  Freyja  went  they, 
that  first  he  spake : 
thy  feather-dress  lend  me, 
I  may  seek?” 


Freyja  spake: 

4.  “Thine  should  it  be  though  of  silver  bright, 
And  I  would  give  it  though  ’twere  of  gold.” 
Then  Loki  flew,  and  the  feather-dress  whirred, 
Till  he  left  behind  him  the  home  of  the  gods, 
And  reached  at  last  the  realm  of  the  giants. 


2.  Loki:  cf.  Lokasenna,  passim. 

3.  Freyja:  Njorth’s  daughter,  and  sister  of  Freyr;  cf.  Loka¬ 
senna,  introductory  prose  and  note,  also  Skirnismol,  introductory 
prose.  Freyja’s  house  was  Sessrymnir  (“Rich  in  Seats”)  built  in 
Folkvang  (“Field  of  the  Folk”)  ;  cf.  Grimnismol,  14.  Feather- 
dress:  this  flying  equipment  of  Freyja’s  is  also  used  in  the  story 
of  Thjazi,  wherein  Loki  again  borrows  the  “hawk’s  dress”  of 
Freyja,  this  time  to  rescue  Ithun ;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  19  and  note. 

4.  The  manuscript  and  most  editions  have  lines  1-2  in  inverse 
order.  Several  editors  assume  a  lacuna  before  line  1,  making  a 
stanza  out  of  the  two  conjectural  lines  (Bugge  actually  supplies 
them)  and  lines  1-2  of  stanza  4.  Thus  they  either  make  a  sep¬ 
arate  stanza  out  of  lines  3-5  or  unite  them  in  a  six-line  stanza 
with  5.  The  manuscript  punctuation  and  capitalization — not 

[175] 


Poetic  Edda 


5.  Thrym  sat  on  a  mound,  the  giants’  master, 
Leashes  of  gold  he  laid  for  his  dogs, 

And  stroked  and  smoothed  the  manes  of  his  steeds. 


Thrym  spake: 

6.  “How  fare  the  gods, 
Why  comst  thou  alone 


how  fare  the  elves  ? 
to  the  giants’  land  ?” 


Loki  spake: 
“Ill  fare  the  gods, 
Hast  thou  hidden 

Thrym  spake: 

7.  “I  have  hidden 
Eight  miles  down 
And  back  again 
If  Freyja  I  win  noi 


ill  fare  the  elves! 
Hlorrithi’s  hammer?” 

Hlorrithi’s  hammer, 
deep  in  the  earth ; 
shall  no  man  bring  it 
to  be  my  wife.” 


8. 


Then  Loki  flew.  and  the  feather-dress  whirred 


Till  he  left  behind  him 
And  reached  at  last 
There  in  the  courtyard 
Hear  now  the  speech 


the  home  of  the  giants, 
the  realm  of  the  gods. 

Thor  he  met : 
that  first  he  spake : 


wholly  trustworthy  guides — indicate  the  stanza  divisions  as  in 
this  translation. 

5.  Thrym:  a  frost-giant.  Gering  declares  that  this  story  of  the 
theft  of  Thor’s  hammer  symbolizes  the  fact  that  thunderstorms 
rarely  occur  in  winter. 

6.  Line  I :  cf.  Voluspo,  48,  1.  The  manuscript  does  not  indi¬ 
cate  Loki  as  the  speaker  of  lines  3-4.  Hlorrithi:  Thor. 

7.  No  superscription  in  the  manuscript.  Vigfusson  made  up 

[176] 


Thrymskvitha 

9.  “Hast  thou  found  tidings  as  well  as  trouble? 

Thy  news  in  the  air  shalt  thou  utter  now; 

Oft  doth  the  sitter  his  story  forget, 

And  lies  he  speaks  who  lays  himself  down.” 

Loki  spake: 

10.  “Trouble  I  have,  and  tidings  as  well: 

Thrym,  king  of  the  giants,  keeps  thy  hammer, 
And  back  again  shall  no  man  bring  it 

If  Freyja  he  wins  not  to  be  his  wife.” 

11.  Freyja  the  fair  then  went  they  to  find ; 

Hear  now  the  speech  that  first  he  spake: 

“Bind  on,  Freyja,  the  bridal  veil, 

For  we  two  must  haste  to  the  giants’  home.” 

12.  Wrathful  was  Freyja,  and  fiercely  she  snorted, 
And  the  dwelling  great  of  the  gods  was  shaken, 
And  burst  was  the  mighty  Brisings’  necklace: 
“Most  lustful  indeed  should  I  look  to  all 

If  I  journeyed  with  thee  to  the  giants’  home.” 


and  inserted  lines  like  “Then  spake  Loki  the  son  of  Laufey” 
whenever  he  thought  they  would  be  useful. 

9.  The  manuscript  marks  line  2,  instead  of  line  1,  as  the 
beginning  of  a  stanza,  which  has  caused  editors  some  confusion 
in  grouping  the  lines  of  stanzas  8  and  9. 

10.  No  superscription  in  the  manuscript. 

12.  Many  editors  have  rejected  either  line  2  or  line  3.  Vig- 
fusson  inserts  one  of  his  own  lines  before  line  4.  Brisings’  neck¬ 
lace:  a  marvelous  necklace  fashioned  by  the  dwarfs,  here  called 
Brisings  (i.e.,  “Twiners”)  ;  cf.  Lokasenna,  20  and  note. 

[177] 


Poetic  Edda 


13.  Then  were  the  gods  together  met, 

And  the  goddesses  came  and  council  held, 
And  the  far-famed  ones  a  plan  would  find, 
How  they  might  Hlorrithi’s  hammer  win. 

14.  Then  Heimdall  spake,  whitest  of  the  gods, 
Like  the  Wanes  he  knew  the  future  well : 
“Bind  we  on  Thor  the  bridal  veil, 

Let  him  bear  the  mighty  B risings’  necklace ; 

15.  “Keys  around  him  let  there  rattle, 

And  down  to  his  knees  hang  woman’s  dress; 
With  gems  full  broad  upon  his  breast, 

And  a  pretty  cap  to  crown  his  head.” 

16.  Then  Thor  the  mighty  his  answer  made : 
“Me  would  the  gods  unmanly  call 

If  I  let  bind  the  bridal  veil.” 

17.  Then  Loki  spake,  the  son  of  Laufey: 

“Be  silent,  Thor,  and  speak  not  thus; 


13.  Lines  1-3  are  identical  with  Baldrs  Draumar,  1,  1-3. 

14.  Heimdall :  the  phrase  “whitest  of  the  gods”  suggests  that 
Heimdall  was  the  god  of  light  as  well  as  being  the  watchman. 
His  wisdom  was  probably  connected  with  his  sleepless  watching 
over  all  the  worlds;  cf.  Lokasenna,  47  and  note.  On  the  Wanes 
cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note.  They  are  not  elsewhere  spoken  of  as 
peculiarly  gifted  with  knowledge  of  future  events. 

16.  Possibly  a  line  has  been  lost  from  this  stanza. 

1 7.  Laufey:  Loki’s  mother,  cf.  Lokasenna,  52  and  note. 

[  178] 


Thrymskvitha 

Else  will  the  giants  in  Asgarth  dwell 

If  thy  hammer  is  brought  not  home  to  thee.” 

1 8.  Then  bound  they  on  Thor  the  bridal  veil, 

And  next  the  mighty  Brisings’  necklace. 

19.  Keys  around  him  let  they  rattle, 

And  down  to  his  knees  hung  woman’s  dress; 

With  gems  full  broad  upon  his  breast, 

And  a  pretty  cap  to  crown  his  head. 

20.  Then  Loki  spake,  the  son  of  Laufey : 

“As  thy  maid-servant  thither  I  go  with  thee ; 
We  two  shall  haste  to  the  giants’  home.” 

21.  Then  home  the  goats  to  the  hall  were  driven, 
They  wrenched  at  the  halters,  swift  were  they  to 

run  ; 

The  mountains  burst,  earth  burned  with  fire, 

And  Othin’s  son  sought  Jotunheim. 

22.  Then  loud  spake  Thrym,  the  giants’  leader: 
“Bestir  ye,  giants,  put  straw  on  the  benches; 


18-19.  The  manuscript  abbreviates  all  six  lines,  giving  only 
the  initial  letters  of  the  words.  The  stanza  division  is  thus  arbi¬ 
trary;  some  editors  have  made  one  stanza  of  the  six  lines,  others 
have  combined  the  last  two  lines  of  stanza  19  with  stanza  20. 
It  is  possible  that  a  couple  of  lines  have  been  lost. 

21.  Goats:  Thor’s  wagon  was  always  drawn  by  goats;  cf. 
Ilymiskvitha,  38  and  note.  Jotunheim:  the  world  of  the  giants. 

22.  Njorth:  cf.  Voluspo,  21,  and  Grimnismol,  11  and  16.  Noatun 

[  179  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Now  Freyja  they  bring  to  be  my  bride, 

The  daughter  of  Njorth  out  of  Noatun. 

23.  “Gold-horned  cattle  go  to  my  stables, 

Jet-black  oxen,  the  giant’s  joy; 

Many  my  gems,  and  many  my  jewels, 

Freyja  alone  did  I  lack,  methinks.” 

24.  Early  it  was  to  evening  come, 

And  forth  was  borne  the  beer  for  the  giants; 
Thor  alone  ate  an  ox,  and  eight  salmon, 

All  the  dainties  as  well  that  were  set  for  the 
women ; 

And  drank  Sif’s  mate  three  tuns  of  mead. 

25.  Then  loud  spake  Thrym,  the  giants’  leader: 

“Who  ever  saw  bride  more  keenly  bite? 

I  ne’er  saw  bride  with  a  broader  bite, 

Nor  a  maiden  who  drank  more  mead  than  this!” 

26.  Hard  by  there  sat  the  serving-maid  wise, 

So  well  she  answered  the  giant’s  words: 

“From  food  has  Freyja  eight  nights  fasted, 

So  hot  was  her  longing  for  Jotunheim.” 


(“Ships’-Haven”)  :  Njorth’s  home,  where  his  wife,  Skathi,  found 
it  impossible  to  stay;  cf.  Grimnismol,  11  and  note. 

24.  Grundtvig  thinks  this  is  all  that  is  left  of  two  stanzas 
describing  Thor’s  supper.  Some  editors  reject  line  4.  In  line  3 
the  manuscript  has  “he,”  the  reference  being,  of  course,  to  Thor, 
on  whose  appetite  cf.  Hymiskvitha,  15.  Sif:  Thor’s  wife;  cf. 
Lokasenna,  note  to  introductory  prose  and  stanza  53. 

[  180] 


Thrymskvitha 

27.  Thrym  looked  ’neath  the  veil,  for  he  longed  to 
kiss, 

But  back  he  leaped  the  length  of  the  hall: 

“Why  are  so  fearful  the  eyes  of  Freyja? 

Fire,  methinks,  from  her  eyes  burns  forth.” 


28. 


Hard  by  there  sat  the 
So  well  she  answered 
“No  sleep  has  Freyja 
So  hot  was  her  longing 


serving-maid  wise, 
the  giant’s  words: 
for  eight  nights  found, 
for  Jotunheim.” 


29.  Soon  came  the  giant’s  luckless  sister, 

Who  feared  not  to  ask  the  bridal  fee : 
“From  thy  hands  the  rings  of  red  gold  take, 
If  thou  wouldst  win  my  willing  love, 

(My  willing  love  and  welcome  glad.)” 


30.  Then  loud  spake  Thrym, 
“Bring  in  the  hammer 
On  the  maiden’s  knees 
That  us  both  the  hand 


the  giants’  leader: 
to  hallow  the  bride; 
let  Mjollnir  lie, 
of  Vor  may  bless.” 


27.  For  clearness  I  have  inserted  Thrym’s  name  in  place  of 
the  pronoun  of  the  original.  Fire:  the  noun  is  lacking  in  the  manu¬ 
script;  most  editors  have  inserted  it,  however,  following  a  late 
paper  manuscript. 

28.  In  the  manuscript  the  whole  stanza  is  abbreviated  to  ini¬ 
tial  letters,  except  for  “sleep,”  “Freyja,”  and  “found.” 

29.  Luckless:  so  the  manuscript,  but  many  editors  have 
altered  the  word  “arma”  to  “aldna,”  meaning  “old,”  to  corre¬ 
spond  with  line  1  of  stanza  32.  Line  5  may  well  be  spurious. 

30.  Hallow:  just  what  this  means  is  not  clear,  but  there  are 

[181] 


Poetic  Edda 


31.  The  heart  in  the  breast  of  Hlorrithi  laughed 
When  the  hard-souled  one  his  hammer  beheld ; 
First  Thrym,  the  king  of  the  giants,  he  killed, 
Then  all  the  folk  of  the  giants  he  felled. 

32.  The  giant’s  sister  old  he  slew, 

She  who  had  begged  the  bridal  fee ; 

A  stroke  she  got  in  the  shilling’s  stead, 

And  for  many  rings  the  might  of  the  hammer. 

33.  And  so  his  hammer  got  Othin’s  son. 


references  to  other  kinds  of  consecration,  though  not  of  a  bride, 
with  the  “sign  of  the  hammer.”  According  to  Vigfusson,  “the 
hammer  was  the  holy  sign  with  the  heathens,  answering  to  the 
cross  of  the  Christians.”  In  Snorri’s  story  of  Thor’s  resuscitation 
of  his  cooked  goat  (cf.  Hymiskvitha,  38,  note)  the  god  “hallows” 
the  goat  with  his  hammer.  One  of  the  oldest  runic  signs,  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  magic  power,  was  named  Thor’s-hammer.  V or : 
the  goddess  of  vows,  particularly  between  men  and  women; 
Snorri  lists  a  number  of  little-known  goddesses  similar  to  Vor, 
all  of  them  apparently  little  more  than  names  for  Frigg. 

33.  Some  editors  reject  this  line,  which,  from  a  dramatic  stand¬ 
point,  is  certainly  a  pity.  In  the  manuscript  it  begins  with  a 
capital  letter,  like  the  opening  of  a  new  stanza. 


[  182] 


ALVISSMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Alvis 

Introductory  Note 

No  better  summary  of  the  Alvissmol  can  be  given  than 
Gering’s  statement  that  “it  is  a  versified  chapter  from  the  skaldic 
Poetics.”  The  narrative  skeleton,  contained  solely  in  stanzas  1-8 
and  in  35,  is  of  the  slightest;  the  dwarf  Alvis,  desirous  of  marry¬ 
ing  Thor’s  daughter,  is  compelled  by  the  god  to  answer  a  number 
of  questions  to  test  his  knowledge.  That  all  his  answers  are  quite 
satisfactory  makes  no  difference  whatever  to  the  outcome.  The 
questions  and  answers  differ  radically  from  those  of  the  Vaf- 
thruthnismol.  Instead  of  being  essentially  mythological,  they  all 
concern  synonyms.  Thor  asks  what  the  earth,  the  sky,  the  moon, 
and  so  on,  are  called  “  in  each  of  all  the  worlds,”  but  there  is  no 
apparent  significance  in  the  fact  that  the  gods  call  the  earth  one 
thing  and  the  giants  call  it  another;  the  answers  are  simply 
strings  of  poetic  circumlocutions,  or  “kennings.”  Concerning  the 
use  of  these  “kennings”  in  skaldic  poetry,  cf.  introductory  note  to 
the  Hymiskvitka. 

Mogk  is  presumably  right  in  dating  the  poem  as  late  as  the 
twelfth  century,  assigning  it  to  the  period  of  “the  Icelandic 
renaissance  of  skaldic  poetry.”  It  appears  to  have  been  the  work 
of  a  man  skilled  in  poetic  construction, — Thor’s  questions,  for 
instance,  are  neatly  balanced  in  pairs, — and  fully  familiar  with 
the  intricacies  of  skaldic  diction,  but  distinctly  weak  in  his  myth¬ 
ology.  In  other  words,  it  is  learned  rather  than  spontaneous 
poetry.  Finnur  Jonsson’s  attempt  to  make  it  a  tenth  century  Nor¬ 
wegian  poem  baffles  logic.  Vigfusson  is  pretty  sure  the  poem 
shows  marked  traces  of  Celtic  influence,  which  is  by  no  means 
incompatible  with  Mogk’s  theory  (cf.  introductory  note  to  the 
Rigsthula) . 

The  poem  is  found  only  in  Regius ,  where  it  follows  the 
Thrymskvitha.  Snorri  quotes  stanzas  20  and  30,  the  manuscripts 
of  the  Prose  Edda  giving  the  name  of  the  poem  as  Alvissmol , 
Alsvinnsmol  or  Olvismol.  It  is  apparently  in  excellent  condition, 
without  serious  errors  of  transmission,  although  interpolations  or 
omissions  in  such  a  poem  might  have  been  made  so  easily  as  to 
defy  detection. 

The  translation  of  the  many  synonyms  presents,  of  course, 

[183] 


Poetic  Edda 


unusual  difficulties,  particularly  as  many  of  the  Norse  words  can 
be  properly  rendered  in  English  only  by  more  or  less  extended 
phrases.  I  have  kept  to  the  original  meanings  as  closely  as  I 
could  without  utterly  destroying  the  metrical  structure. 


A  his  spake: 

1.  “Now  shall  the  bride  my  benches  adorn, 

And  homeward  haste  forthwith ; 

Eager  for  wedlock  to  all  shall  I  seem, 

Nor  at  home  shall  they  rob  me  of  rest.” 

Thor  spake: 

2.  “What,  pray,  art  thou?  Why  so  pale  round  the 

nose? 

By  the  dead  hast  thou  lain  of  late? 

To  a  giant  like  dost  thou  look,  methinks; 

Thou  wast  not  born  for  the  bride.” 

A  his  spake: 

3.  “Alvis  am  I,  and  under  the  earth 

My  home  ’neath  the  rocks  I  have; 


1.  Alvis  (“All-Knowing”):  a  dwarf,  not  elsewhere  men¬ 
tioned.  The  manuscript  nowhere  indicates  the  speakers’  names. 
The  bride  in  question  is  Thor’s  daughter;  Thruth  (“Might”)  is 
the  only  daughter  of  his  whose  name  is  recorded,  and  she  does 
not  appear  elsewhere  in  the  poems.  Her  mother  was  Sif,  Thor’s 
wife,  whereas  the  god’s  sons  were  born  of  a  giantess.  Benches: 
cf.  Lokasenna,  15  and  note. 

2.  The  dwarfs,  living  beyond  the  reach  of  the  sun,  which  was 
fatal  to  them  (cf.  stanzas  16  and  35),  were  necessarily  pale.  Line 
3  is,  of  course,  ironical. 

3.  W agon-guider :  Thor,  who  travels  habitually  on  his  goat- 
drawn  wagon.  Bugge  changes  “Vagna  vers”  to  “Vapna  verþs,” 

[184] 


Alvissmol 


With  the  wagon-guider  a  word  do  I  seek; 

Let  the  gods  their  bond  not  break.” 

Thor  spake: 

4.  “Break  it  shall  I,  for  over  the  bride 

Her  father  has  foremost  right; 

At  home  was  I  not  when  the  promise  thou  hadst, 
And  I  give  her  alone  of  the  gods.” 

Alvis  spake: 

5.  “What  hero  claims  such  right  to  hold 

O’er  the  bride  that  shines  so  bright? 

Not  many  will  know  thee,  thou  wandering  man ! 
Who  was  bought  with  rings  to  bear  thee?” 

Thor  spake: 

6.  “Vingthor,  the  wanderer  wide,  am  I, 

And  I  am  Sithgrani’s  son ; 

Against  my  will  shalt  thou  get  the  maid, 

And  win  the  marriage  word.” 


rendering  the  line  “I  am  come  to  seek  the  cost  of  the  weapons.” 
In  either  case,  Alvis  does  not  as  yet  recognize  Thor. 

4.  Apparently  the  gods  promised  Thor’s  daughter  in  marriage 
to  Alvis  during  her  father’s  absence,  perhaps  as  a  reward  for 
some  craftsmanship  of  his  (cf.  Bugge’s  suggestion  as  to  stanza 
3).  The  text  of  line  4  is  most  uncertain. 

5.  Hero:  ironically  spoken;  Alvis  takes  Thor  for  a  tramp,  the 
god’s  uncouth  appearance  often  leading  to  such  mistakes;  cf. 
Harharthsljoth,  6.  Line  4  is  a  trifle  uncertain;  some  editors  alter 
the  wording  to  read  “What  worthless  woman  bore  thee?” 

6.  Vingthor  (“Thor  the  Hurler”)  :  cf.  Thrymskvitha ,  1.  Sitk- 
grani  (“Long-Beard”) :  Othin. 

[185] 


Poetic  Edda 


Alvis  spake: 

7.  “Thy  good-will  now  shall  I  quickly  get, 

And  win  the  marriage  word ; 

I  long  to  have,  and  I  would  not  lack, 

This  snow-white  maid  for  mine.” 

Thor  spake: 

8.  “The  love  of  the  maid  I  may  not  keep  thee 

From  winning,  thou  guest  so  wise, 

If  of  every  world  thou  canst  tell  me  all 
That  now  I  wish  to  know. 

9.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  earth,  that  lies  before  all, 
In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

10.  “  ‘Earth’  to  men,  ‘Field’  to  the  gods  it  is, 

‘The  Ways’  is  it  called  by  the  Wanes; 


8.  Every  world:  concerning  the  nine  worlds,  cf.  Voluspo,  2 
and  note.  Many  editors  follow  this  stanza  with  one  spoken  by 
Alvis,  found  in  late  paper  manuscripts,  as  follows:  “Ask  then, 
Vingthor,  since  eager  thou  art  /  The  lore  of  the  dwarf  to 
learn;  /  Oft  have  I  fared  in  the  nine  worlds  all,  /  And  wide 
is  my  wisdom  of  each.” 

10.  Men,  etc.:  nothing  could  more  clearly  indicate  the  author’s 
mythological  inaccuracy  than  his  confusion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  nine  worlds.  Men  (dwellers  in  Mithgarth)  appear  in  each 
of  Alvis’s  thirteen  answers;  so  do  the  gods  (Asgarth)  and  the 
giants  (Jotunheim).  The  elves  (Alfheim)  appear  in  eleven 

[186] 


Alvissmol 

‘Ever  Green’  by  the  giants,  ‘The  Grower’  by 
elves, 

‘The  Moist’  by  the  holy  ones  high.” 


Thor  spake: 

11.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  heaven,  beheld  of  the  high 
one, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

12.  “  ‘Heaven’  men  call  it,  ‘The  Height’  the  gods, 

The  Wanes  ‘The  Weaver  of  Winds’; 

Giants  ‘The  Up-World,’  elves  ‘The  Fair-Roof,’ 
The  dwarfs  ‘The  Dripping  Hall.’  ” 


answers,  the  Wanes  (Vanaheim)  in  nine,  and  the  dwarfs  (who 
occupied  no  special  world,  unless  one  identifies  them  with  the 
dark  elves  of  Svartalfaheim)  in  seven.  The  dwellers  “in  hell’' 
appear  in  six  stanzas ;  the  phrase  probably  refers  to  the  world 
of  the  dead,  though  Mogk  thinks  it  may  mean  the  dwarfs.  In 
stanzas  where  the  gods  are  already  listed  appear  names  else¬ 
where  applied  only  to  them, — “holy  ones,”  “sons  of  the  gods” 
and  “high  ones,” — as  if  these  names  meant  beings  of  a  separate 
race.  “Men”  appears  twice  in  the  same  stanza,  and  so  do  the 
giants,  if  one  assumes  that  they  are  “the  sons  of  Suttung.”  Alto¬ 
gether  it  is  useless  to  pay  much  attention  to  the  mythology  of 
Alvis’s  replies. 

ii.  Lines  i,  2,  and  4  of  Thor’s  questions  are  regularly  abbre¬ 
viated  in  the  manuscript.  Beheld,  etc.:  the  word  in  the  manu¬ 
script  is  almost  certainly  an  error,  and  all  kinds  of  guesses 
have  been  made  to  rectify  it.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  it  means 
“beheld  of”  or  “known  to”  somebody. 

[187] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thor  spake: 

13.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  moon,  that  men  behold, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

14.  “‘Moon’  with  men,  ‘Flame’  the  gods  among, 

‘The  Wheel’  in  the  house  of  hell; 

‘The  Goer’  the  giants,  ‘The  Gleamer’  the 
dwarfs, 

The  elves  ‘The  Teller  of  Time.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

15.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  sun,  that  all  men  see, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

16.  “Men  call  it  ‘Sun,’  gods  ‘Orb  of  the  Sun,’ 

‘The  Deceiver  of  Dvalin’  the  dwarfs; 

The  giants  ‘The  Ever-Bright,’  elves  ‘Fair 
Wheel,’ 

‘All-Glowing’  the  sons  of  the  gods.” 


14.  Flame:  a  doubtful  word;  Vigfusson  suggests  that  it  prop¬ 
erly  means  a  “mock  sun.”  IV heel:  the  manuscript  adds  the  adjec¬ 
tive  “whirling,”  to  the  destruction  of  the  metre;  cf.  Hovamol, 
84,  3- 

16.  Deceiver  of  Dvalin:  Dvalin  was  one  of  the  foremost 
dwarfs;  cf.  Volnspo,  14,  Fafnismol,  13,  and  Hovamol,  144.  The 

[188] 


Alvissmol 


Thor  spake: 

17.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  clouds,  that  keep  the  rains, 

In  each  and  every  world  ?” 

Alvis  spake: 

18.  “‘Clouds’  men  name  them,  ‘Rain-Hope’  gods 

call  them, 

The  Wanes  call  them  ‘Kites  of  the  Wind’; 
‘Water-Hope’  giants,  ‘Weather-Might’  elves, 
‘The  Helmet  of  Secrets’  in  hell.” 

Thor  spake: 

19.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  wind,  that  widest  fares, 

In  each  and  every  world  ?” 

Alvis  spake: 

20.  “  ‘Wind’  do  men  call  it,  the  gods  ‘The  Waverer,’ 

‘The  Neigher’  the  holy  ones  high ; 


sun  “deceives”  him  because,  like  the  other  dwarfs  living  under¬ 
ground,  he  cannot  live  in  its  light,  and  always  fears  lest  sunrise 
may  catch  him  unaware.  The  sun’s  rays  have  power  to  turn  the 
dwarfs  into  stone,  and  the  giantess  Hrimgerth  meets  a  similar 
fate  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar ,  30).  Alvis  suffers  in 
the  same  way;  cf.  stanza  35. 

20.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza  in  the  SkaldskafarmaL  Wa¬ 
verer:  the  word  is  uncertain,  the  Prose  Edda  manuscripts  giving 
it  in  various  forms.  Blustering  Blast:  two  Prose  Edda  manu¬ 
scripts  give  a  totally  different  word,  meaning  “The  Pounder.” 

[189] 


Poetic  Edda 


‘The  Wailer’  the  giants,  ‘Roaring  Wender’  the 
elves, 

In  hell  ‘The  Blustering  Blast.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

21.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  calm,  that  quiet  lies, 

In  each  and  every  world  ?” 

Alvis  spake: 

22.  “  ‘Calm’  men  call  it,  ‘The  Quiet’  the  gods, 

The  Wanes  ‘The  Hush  of  the  Winds’; 

‘The  Sultry’  the  giants,  elves  ‘Day’s  Stillness,’ 
The  dwarfs  ‘The  Shelter  of  Day.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

23.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  sea,  whereon  men  sail, 

In  each  and  every  world  ?” 

Alvis  spake: 

24.  “  ‘Sea’  men  call  it,  gods  ‘The  Smooth-Lying,’ 

‘The  Wave’  is  it  called  by  the  Wanes; 


22.  Hush ,  etc.:  the  manuscript,  by  inserting  an  additional 
letter,  makes  the  word  practically  identical  with  that  translated 
“Kite”  in  stanza  18.  Most  editors  have  agreed  as  to  the 
emendation. 

24.  Drink-Stuff :  Gering  translates  the  word  thus;  I  doubt  it, 
but  can  suggest  nothing  better. 

[190] 


Alvissmol 


‘Eel-Home’  the  giants,  ‘Drink-Stuff’  the  elves, 
For  the  dwarfs  its  name  is  ‘The  Deep.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

25.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  fire,  that  flames  for  men, 

In  each  of  all  the  worlds?” 

Alvis  spake: 

26.  “  ‘Fire’  men  call  it,  and  ‘Flame’  the  gods, 

By  the  Wanes  is  it  ‘Wildfire’  called; 

‘The  Biter’  by  giants,  ‘The  Burner’  by  dwarfs, 
‘The  Swift’  in  the  house  of  hell.” 

Thor  spake: 

27.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  wood,  that  grows  for  man¬ 
kind, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

28.  “Men  call  it  ‘The  Wood,’  gods  ‘The  Mane  of 

the  Field,’ 


26.  Wildfire:  the  word  may  mean  any  one  of  various  things, 
including  “Wave,”  which  is  not  unlikely. 

4 

28.  In  hell:  the  word  simply  means  “men,”  and  it  is  only  a 
guess,  though  a  generally  accepted  one,  that  here  it  refers  to  the 
dead. 


[191] 


Poetic  Edda 


‘Seaweed  of  Hills’  in  hell; 

‘Flame-Food’  the  giants,  ‘Fair-Limbed’  the  elves, 
‘The  Wand’  is  it  called  by  the  Wanes.” 

Thor  spake: 

29.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  night,  the  daughter  of  Nor, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

30.  “  ‘Night’  men  call  it,  ‘Darkness’  gods  name  it, 

‘The  Hood’  the  holy  ones  high ; 

The  giants  ‘The  Lightless,’  the  elves  ‘Sleep’s 

Joy,’ 

The  dwarfs  ‘The  Weaver  of  Dreams.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

31.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men: 

What  call  they  the  seed,  that  is  sown  by  men, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 


29.  Nor:  presumably  the  giant  whom  Snorri  calls  Norvi  or 
Narfi,  father  of  Not  (Night)  and  grandfather  of  Dag  (Day). 
Cf.  Vafthruthnismol,  25. 

30.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza  in  the  Skaldskaparmal.  The 
various  Prose  Edda  manuscripts  differ  considerably  in  naming 
the  gods,  the  giants,  etc.  Lightless:  some  manuscripts  have  “The 
Unsorrowing.” 

32.  Grain:  the  two  words  translated  “grain”  and  “corn” 
apparently  both  meant  primarily  barley,  and  thence  grain  in 

[  192] 


Alvissmol 


Alvis  spake: 

32.  “Men  call  it  ‘Grain/  and  ‘Corn’  the  gods, 

‘Growth’  in  the  world  of  the  Wanes; 

‘The  Eaten’  by  giants,  ‘Drink-Stuff’  by  elves, 

In  hell  ‘The  Slender  Stem.’  ” 

Thor  spake: 

33.  “Answer  me,  Alvis!  thou  knowest  all, 

Dwarf,  of  the  doom  of  men : 

What  call  they  the  ale,  that  is  quaffed  of  men, 

In  each  and  every  world?” 

Alvis  spake: 

34.  “  ‘Ale’  among  men,  ‘Beer’  the  gods  among, 

In  the  world  of  the  Wanes  ‘The  Foaming’; 
‘Bright  Draught’  with  giants,  ‘Mead’  with 
dwellers  in  hell, 

‘The  Feast-Draught’  with  Suttung’s  sons.” 

Thor  spake: 

35.  “In  a  single  breast  I  never  have  seen 

More  wealth  of  wisdom  old; 


general,  the  first  being  the  commoner  term  of  the  two.  Drink- 
Stuff:  the  word  is  identical  with  the  one  used,  and  commented 
on,  in  stanza  24,  and  again  I  have  followed  Gering’s  interpre¬ 
tation  for  want  of  a  better  one.  If  his  guess  is  correct,  the  ref¬ 
erence  here  is  evidently  to  grain  as  the  material  from  which  beer 
and  other  drinks  are  brewed. 

34.  Suttung’s  sons:  these  ought  to  be  the  giants,  but  the  giants 
are  specifically  mentioned  in  line  3.  The  phrase  “Suttung’s  sons” 
occurs  in  Skirnismol,  34,  clearly  meaning  the  giants.  Concerning 
Suttung  as  the  possessor  of  the  mead  of  poetry,  cf.  Hovamol,  104. 

[193] 


Poetic  Edda 


But  with  treacherous  wiles  must  I  now  betray 
thee: 

The  day  has  caught  thee,  dwarf! 

(Now  the  sun  shines  here  in  the  hall.)” 


35.  Concerning  the  inability  of  the  dwarfs  to  endure  sunlight, 
which  turns  them  into  stone,  cf.  stanza  16  and  note.  Line  5  may 
be  spurious. 


[  194] 


BALDRS  DRAUMAR 

Baldr  s  Dreams 

Introductory  Note 

Baldrs  Draumar  is  found  only  in  the  Arnamagruean  Codex, 
where  it  follows  the  Harbarthsljoth  fragment.  It  is  preserved  in 
various  late  paper  manuscripts,  with  the  title  V egtamskvitha 
(The  Lay  of  Vegtam),  which  has  been  used  by  some  editors. 

The  poem,  which  contains  but  fourteen  stanzas,  has  appar¬ 
ently  been  preserved  in  excellent  condition.  Its  subject-matter  and 
style  link  it  closely  with  the  Voluspo.  Four  of  the  five  lines  of 
stanza  n  appear,  almost  without  change,  in  the  Voluspo,  32-33, 
and  the  entire  poem  is  simply  an  elaboration  of  the  episode  out¬ 
lined  in  those  and  the  preceding  stanzas.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  Baldrs  Draumar  and  the  Voluspo  may  have  been  by  the 
same  author.  There  is  also  enough  similarity  in  style  between 
Baldrs  Draumar  and  the  Thrymskvitha  (note  especially  the 
opening  stanza)  to  give  color  to  Vigfusson’s  guess  that  these  two 
poems  had  a  common  authorship.  In  any  case,  Baldrs  Draumar 
presumably  assumed  its  present  form  not  later  than  the  first  half 
of  the  tenth  century. 

Whether  the  Volva  (wise-woman)  of  the  poem  is  identical 
with  the  speaker  in  the  Voluspo  is  purely  a  matter  for  conjecture. 
Nothing  definitely  opposes  such  a  supposition.  As  in  the  longer 
poem  she  foretells  the  fall  of  the  gods,  so  in  this  case  she 
prophesies  the  first  incident  of  that  fall,  the  death  of  Baldr. 
Here  she  is  called  up  from  the  dead  by  Othin,  anxious  to  know 
the  meaning  of  Baldr’s  evil  dreams;  in  the  Voluspo  it  is  likewise 
intimated  that  the  Volva  has  risen  from  the  grave. 

The  poem,  like  most  of  the  others  in  the  collection,  is  essem 
tially  dramatic  rather  than  narrative,  summarizing  a  story  which 
was  doubtless  familiar  to  every  one  who  heard  the  poem. recited. 


I.  Once  were  the  gods  together  met, 

And  the  goddesses  came  and  council  held, 


1.  Lines  1-3  are  identical  with  Thrymskvitha,  13,  1-3.  Baldr: 
concerning  this  best  and  noblest  of  the  gods,  the  son  of  Othin  and 

[195] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  the  far-famed  ones  the  truth  would  find, 
Why  baleful  dreams  to  Baldr  had  come. 

2.  Then  Othin  rose,  the  enchanter  old, 

And  the  saddle  he  laid  on  Sleipnir’s  back; 
Thence  rode  he  down  to  Niflhel  deep, 

And  the  hound  he  met  that  came  from  hell. 

3.  Bloody  he  was  on  his  breast  before, 

At  the  father  of  magic  he  howled  from  afar; 
Forward  rode  Othin,  the  earth  resounded 
Till  the  house  so  high  of  Hel  he  reached. 

4.  Then  Othin  rode  to  the  eastern  door, 

There,  he  knew  well,  was  the  wise-woman’s 
grave ; 

Magic  he  spoke  and  mighty  charms, 

Till  spell-bound  she  rose,  and  in  death  she  spoke: 


Frigg,  who  comes  again  among  the  survivors  after  the  final 
battle,  cf.  Voluspo,  32  and  62,  and  notes.  He  is  almost  never  men¬ 
tioned  anywhere  except  in  connection  with  the  story  of  his  death, 
though  Snorri  has  one  short  passage  praising  his  virtue  and 
beauty.  After  stanza  1  two  old  editions,  and  one  later  one,  insert 
four  stanzas  from  late  paper  manuscripts. 

2.  Sleipnir :  Othin’s  eight-legged  horse,  the  son  of  Loki  and 
the  stallion  Svathilfari;  cf.  Lokasenna,  23,  and  Grimnismol,  44, 
and  notes.  Niflhel:  the  murky  (“nifl”)  dwelling  of  Hel,  goddess 
of  the  dead.  The  hound:  Garm;  cf.  Voluspo,  44. 

3.  Father  of  magic:  Othin  appears  constantly  as  the  god  of 
magic.  Hel:  offspring  of  Loki  and  the  giantess  Angrbotha,  as 
were  the  wolf  Fenrir  and  Mithgarthsorm.  She  ruled  the  world  of 
the  unhappy  dead,  either  those  who  had  led  evil  lives  or,  accord¬ 
ing  to  another  tradition,  those  who  had  not  died  in  battle.  The 

[196] 


Baldrs  Draumar 


5.  “What  is  the  man,  to  me  unknown, 

That  has  made  me  travel  the  troublous  road  ? 

I  was  snowed  on  with  snow,  and  smitten  with 
rain, 

And  drenched  with  dew;  long  was  I  dead.” 

Othin  spake: 

6.  “Vegtam  my  name,  I  am  Valtam’s  son; 

Speak  thou  of  hell,  for  of  heaven  I  know : 

For  whom  are  the  benches  bright  with  rings, 
And  the  platforms  gay  bedecked  with  gold?” 

The  Wise-Woman  spake: 

7.  “Here  for  Baldr  the  mead  is  brewed, 

The  shining  drink,  and  a  shield  lies  o’er  it; 

But  their  hope  is  gone  from  the  mighty  gods. 
Unwilling  I  spake,  and  now  would  be  still.” 


manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza,  and  thus 
the  editions  vary  in  their  grouping  of  the  lines  of  this  and  the 
succeeding  stanzas. 

6.  The  manuscript  has  no  superscriptions  indicating  the 
speakers.  Vegtam  (“The  Wanderer”)  :  Othin,  as  usual,  con¬ 
ceals  his  identity,  calling  himself  the  son  of  Valtam  (“The 
Fighter”).  In  this  instance  he  has  unusual  need  to  do  so,  for  as 
the  wise-woman  belongs  apparently  to  the  race  of  the  giants, 
she  would  be  unwilling  to  answer  a  god’s  questions.  Heaven: 
the  word  used  includes  all  the  upper  worlds,  in  contrast  to  hell. 
Benches,  etc.:  the  adornment  of  the  benches  and  raised  platforms, 
or  elevated  parts  of  the  house,  was  a  regular  part  of  the  prep¬ 
aration  for  a  feast  of  welcome.  The  text  of  the  two  last  lines  is 
somewhat  uncertain. 

7.  Grundtvig,  followed  by  Edzardi.  thinks  a  line  has  been 
lost  between  lines  3  and  4. 


[197] 


Poetic  Edda 


Othin  spake: 

8.  “Wise-woman,  cease  not!  I  seek  from  thee 
All  to  know  that  I  fain  would  ask: 

Who  shall  the  bane  of  Baldr  become, 

And  steal  the  life  from  Othin’s  son?” 


The  Wise-Woman  spake: 


9.  “Hoth  thither  bears 
He  shall  the  bane 
And  steal  the  life 
Unwilling  I  spake, 


the  far-famed  branch, 
of  Baldr  become, 
from  Othin’s  son. 
and  now  would  be  still.” 


Othin  spake: 

10.  “Wise-woman,  cease  not!  I  seek  fiom  thee 
All  to  know  that  I  fain  would  ask: 

Who  shall  vengeance  win  for  the  evil  work, 
Or  bring  to  the  flames  the  slayer  of  Baldr?” 


The  Wise-Woman  spake: 

11.  “Rind  bears  Vali  in  Vestrsalir, 

And  one  night  old  fights  Othin’s  son; 


9.  Concerning  the  blind  Hoth,  who,  at  Loki’s  instigation,  cast 
the  fatal  mistletoe  at  Baldr,  cf.  Voluspo,  32-33  and  notes.  In  the 
manuscript  the  last  line  is  abbreviated,  as  also  in  stanza  n. 

10.  In  the  manuscript  lines  1-2  are  abbreviated,  as  also  in 
stanza  12. 

11.  Rind:  mentioned  by  Snorri  as  one  of  the  goddesses.  Con¬ 
cerning  her  son  Vali,  begotten  by  Othin  for  the  express  purpose 
of  avenging  Baldr’s  death,  and  his  slaying  of  Hoth  the  day  after 
his  birth,  cf.  Voluspo,  33-34,  where  the  lines  of  this  stanza  appear 
practically  verbatim.  Vestrsalir  (“The  Western  Hall”)  :  not  else¬ 
where  mentioned  in  the  poems. 

[198] 


Baldrs  Draumar 


H  is  hands  he  shall  wash  not,  his  hair  he  shall 
comb  not, 

Till  the  slayer  of  Baldr  he  brings  to  the  flames. 
Unwilling  I  spake,  and  now  would  be  still.” 

Othin  spake: 

12.  “Wise-woman,  cease  not!  I  seek  from  thee 
All  to  know  that  I  fain  would  ask: 

What  maidens  are  they  who  then  shall  weep, 
And  toss  to  the  sky  the  yards  of  the  sails?” 

The  Wise-Woman  spake: 

13.  “Vegtam  thou  art  not,  as  erstwhile  I  thought; 
Othin  thou  art,  the  enchanter  old.” 

Othin  spake: 

“No  wise-woman  art  thou,  nor  wisdom  hast; 

Of  giants  three  the  mother  art  thou.” 

The  Wise-Woman  spake: 

14.  “Home  ride,  Othin,  be  ever  proud; 

For  no  one  of  men  shall  seek  me  more 


12.  The  manuscript  marks  the  third  line  as  the  beginning  of 
a  stanza;  something  may  have  been  lost.  Lines  3-4  are  thoroughly 
obscure.  According  to  Bugge  the  maidens  who  are  to  weep  for 
Baldr  are  the  daughters  of  the  sea-god  Ægir,  the  waves,  whose 
grief  will  be  so  tempestuous  that  they  will  toss  the  ships  up  to 
the  very  sky.  “Yards  of  the  sails”  is  a  doubtfully  accurate  ren¬ 
dering;  the  two  words,  at  any  rate  in  later  Norse  nautical  speech, 
meant  respectively  the  “tack”  and  the  “sheet”  of  the  square  sail. 

13.  Possibly  two  separate  stanzas.  Enchanter:  the  meaning  of 
the  original  word  is  most  uncertain. 

[  199] 


Poetic  Edda 


Till  Loki  wanders  loose  from  his  bonds, 
And  to  the  last  strife  the  destroyers  come.” 


14.  Concerning  Loki’s  escape  and  his  relation  to  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  the  gods,  cf.  Voluspo,  35  and  51,  and  notes.  While  the 
wise-woman  probably  means  only  that  she  will  never  speak 
again  till  the  end  of  the  world,  it  has  been  suggested,  and  is  cer¬ 
tainly  possible,  that  she  intends  to  give  Loki  her  counsel,  thus 
revenging  herself  on  Othin. 


[  200  ] 


RIGSTHULA 

The  Song  of  Rig 

Introductory  Note 

The  Rigsthula  is  found  in  neither  of  the  principal  codices. 
The  only  manuscript  containing  it  is  the  so-called  Codex  JVor- 
manius,  a  manuscript  of  Snorri’s  Prose  Edda.  The  poem  appears 
on  the  last  sheet  of  this  manuscript,  which  unluckily  is  incom¬ 
plete,  and  thus  the  end  of  the  poem  is  lacking.  In  the  Codex 
W ormanius  itself  the  poem  has  no  title,  but  a  fragmentary  parch¬ 
ment  included  with  it  calls  the  poem  the  Rigsthula.  Some  late 
paper  manuscripts  give  it  the  title  of  Rigsmol. 

The  Rigsthula  is  essentially  unlike  anything  else  which  editors 
have  agreed  to  include  in  the  so-called  Edda.  It  is  a  definitely 
cultural  poem,  explaining,  on  a  mythological  basis,  the  origin  of 
the  different  castes  of  early  society:  the  thralls,  the  peasants,  and 
the  warriors.  From  the  warriors,  finally,  springs  one  who  is 
destined  to  become  a  king,  and  thus  the  whole  poem  is  a  song  in 
praise  of  the  royal  estate.  This  fact  in  itself  would  suffice  to  indi¬ 
cate  that  the  Rigsthula  was  not  composed  in  Iceland,  where  for 
centuries  kings  were  regarded  with  profound  disapproval. 

Not  only  does  the  Rigsthula  praise  royalty,  but  it  has  many 
of  the  earmarks  of  a  poem  composed  in  praise  of  a  particular 
king.  The  manuscript  breaks  off  at  a  most  exasperating  point, 
just  as  the  connection  between  the  mythical  “Young  Kon”  (Konr 
ungr,  konungr,  “king”;  but  cf.  stanza  44,  note)  and  the  monarch 
in  question  is  about  to  be  established.  Owing  to  the  character  of 
the  Norse  settlements  in  Iceland,  Ireland,  and  the  western  islands 
generally,  search  for  a  specific  king  leads  back  to  either  Norway 
or  Denmark;  despite  the  arguments  advanced  by  Edzardi,  Vig- 
fusson,  Powell,  and  others,  it  seems  most  improbable  that  such  a 
poem  should  have  been  produced  elsewhere  than  on  the  Conti¬ 
nent,  the  region  where  Scandinavian  royalty  most  flourished. 
Finnur  Jonsson’s  claim  for  Norway,  with  Harald  the  Fair-Haired 
as  the  probable  king  in  question,  is  much  less  impressive  than 
Mogk’s  ingenious  demonstration  that  the  poem  was  in  all  prob¬ 
ability  composed  in  Denmark,  in  honor  of  either  Gorm  the  Old 
or  Harald  Blue-Tooth.  His  proof  is  based  chiefly  on  the  evi¬ 
dence  provided  by  stanza  49,  and  is  summarized  in  the  note  to 
that  stanza. 


[201  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  poet,  however,  was  certainly  not  a  Dane,  but  probably  a 
wandering  Norse  singer,  who  may  have  had  a  dozen  homes, 
and  who  clearly  had  spent  much  time  in  some  part  of  the  western 
island  world  chiefly  inhabited  by  Celts.  The  extent  of  Celtic  influ¬ 
ence  on  the  Eddie  poems  in  general  is  a  matter  of  sharp  dispute. 
Powell,  for  example,  claims  almost  all  the  poems  for  the  “West¬ 
ern  Isles,”  and  attributes  nearly  all  their  good  qualities  to  Celtic 
influence.  Without  here  attempting  to  enter  into  the  details  of 
the  argument,  it  may  be  said  that  the  weight  of  authoritative 
opinion,  while  clearly  recognizing  the  marks  of  Celtic  influence 
in  the  poems,  is  against  this  view;  contact  between  the  roving 
Norsemen  of  Norway  and  Iceland  and  the  Celts  of  Ireland  and 
the  “Western  Isles,”  and  particularly  the  Orkneys,  was  so  ex¬ 
tensive  as  to  make  the  presumption  of  an  actual  Celtic  home  for 
the  poems  seem  quite  unnecessary. 

In  the  case  of  the  Rigsthula  the  poet  unquestionably  had  not 
only  picked  up  bits  of  the  Celtic  speech  (the  name  Rig  itself  is 
almost  certainly  of  Celtic  origin,  and  there  are  various  other 
Celtic  words  employed),  but  also  had  caught  something  of  the 
Celtic  literary  spirit.  This  explains  the  cultural  nature  of  the 
poem,  quite  foreign  to  Norse  poetry  in  general.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  style  as  a  whole  is  vigorously  Norse,  and  thus  the 
explanation  that  the  poem  was  composed  by  an  itinerant  Norse 
poet  who  had  lived  for  some  time  in  the  Celtic  islands,  and 
who  was  on  a  visit  to  the  court  of  a  Danish  king,  fits  the  ascer¬ 
tainable  facts  exceedingly  well.  As  Christianity  was  introduced 
into  Denmark  around  960,  the  Rigsthula  is  not  likely  to  have 
been  composed  much  after  that  date,  and  probably  belongs  to  the 
first  half  of  the  tenth  century.  Gorm  the  Old  died  about  the  year 
935,  and  was  succeeded  by  Harald  Blue-Tooth,  who  died  about 
985. 

The  fourteenth  (or  late  thirteenth)  century  annotator  identi¬ 
fies  Rig  with  Heimdall,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  poem  itself, 
and  very  little  anywhere  else,  to  warrant  this,  and  it  seems 
likely  that  the  poet  had  Othin,  and  not  Heimdall,  in  mind,  his 
purpose  being  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  royal  estate  to  the  chief 
of  the  gods.  The  evidence  bearing  on  this  identification  is  briefly 
summed  up  in  the  note  on  the  introductory  prose  passage,  but 
the  question  involves  complex  and  baffling  problems  in  mythology, 
and  from  very  early  times  the  status  of  Heimdall  was  unques¬ 
tionably  confusing  to  the  Norse  mind. 

[  202  ] 


Rigsthula 

They  tell  in  old  stories  that  one  of  the  gods,  whose  name 
was  Heimdall,  went  on  his  way  along  a  certain  seashore, 
and  came  to  a  dwelling,  where  he  called  himself  Rig. 
According  to  these  stories  is  the  following  poem : 

i.  Men  say  there  went  by  ways  so  green 
Of  old  the  god,  the  aged  and  wise, 

Mighty  and  strong  did  Rig  go  striding. 


Prose.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  much  the  anno¬ 
tator  meant  by  the  phrase  old  stories.  Was  he  familiar  with  the 
tradition  in  forms  other  than  that  of  the  poem?  If  so,  his  intro¬ 
ductory  note  was  scanty,  for,  outside  of  identifying  Rig  as  Heim¬ 
dall,  he  provides  no  information  not  found  in  the  poem.  Prob¬ 
ably  he  meant  simply  to  refer  to  the  poem  itself  as  a  relic  of 
antiquity,  and  the  identification  of  Rig  as  Heimdall  may  well 
have  been  an  attempt  at  constructive  criticism  of  his  own.  The 
note  was  presumably  written  somewhere  about  1300,  or  even 
later,  and  there  is  no  reason  for  crediting  the  annotator  with 
any  considerable  knowledge  of  mythology.  There  is  little  to 
favor  the  identification  of  Rig  with  Heimdall,  the  watchman  of 
the  gods,  beyond  a  few  rather  vague  passages  in  the  other  poems. 
Thus  in  Voluspo,  1,  the  Volva  asks  hearing  “from  Heimdall’s 
sons  both  high  and  low”;  in  Grimnismol,  13,  there  is  a  very 
doubtful  line  which  may  mean  that  Heimdall  “o’er  men  holds 
sway,  it  is  said,”  and  in  “the  Short  Voluspo”  ( Hyndluljoth ,  40) 
he  is  called  “the  kinsman  of  men.”  On  the  other  hand,  every¬ 
thing  in  the  Rigsthula,  including  the  phrase  “the  aged  and  wise” 
in  stanza  1,  and  the  references  to  runes  in  stanzas  36,  44,  and  46, 
fits  Othin  exceedingly  well.  It  seems  probable  that  the  annotator 
was  wrong,  and  that  Rig  is  Othin,  and  not  Heimdall.  Rig:  almost 
certainly  based  on  the  Old  Irish  word  for  “king,”  “ri”  or  “rig.” 

i.  No  gap  is  indicated,  but  editors  have  generally  assumed 
one.  Some  editors,  however,  add  line  1  of  stanza  2  to  stanza  1. 

[  203  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


2.  Forward  he  went  on  the  midmost  way, 

He  came  to  a  dwelling,  a  door  on  its  posts; 
In  did  he  fare,  on  the  floor  was  a  fire, 
Two  hoary  ones  by  the  hearth  there  sat, 

Ai  and  Edda,  in  olden  dress. 


3.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 
Soon  in  the  midst  of  the  room  he  sat, 
And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 


4.  A  loaf  of  bread  did  Edda  bring, 

Heavy  and  thick  and  swollen  with  husks; 

Forth  on  the  table  she  set  the  fare, 

And  broth  for  the  meal  in  a  bowl  there  was. 
(Calf’s  flesh  boiled  was  the  best  of  the  dainties.) 

5.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 

Thence  did  he  rise,  made  ready  to  sleep ; 

Soon  in  the  bed  himself  did  he  lay, 

And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 


2.  Most  editions  make  line  5  a  part  of  the  stanza,  as  here, 
but  some  indicate  it  as  the  sole  remnant  of  one  or  more  stanzas 
descriptive  of  Ai  and  Edda,  just  as  Afi  and  Amma,  Fathir  and 
Mothir,  are  later  described.  Ai  and  Edda:  Great-Grandfather 
and  Great-Grandmother;  the  latter  name  was  responsible  for 
Jakob  Grimm’s  famous  guess  at  the  meaning  of  the  word  “Edda” 
as  applied  to  the  whole  collection  (cf.  Introduction). 

3.  A  line  may  have  been  lost  from  this  stanza. 

4.  Line  5  has  generally  been  rejected  as  spurious. 

5.  The  manuscript  has  lines  1-2  in  inverse  order,  but  marks 
the  word  “Rig”  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 

[  204] 


Rigsthula 

6.  Thus  was  he  there  for  three  nights  long, 

Then  forward  he  went  on  the  midmost  way, 
And  so  nine  months  were  soon  passed  by. 

7.  A  son  bore  Edda,  with  water  they  sprinkled  him, 

With  a  cloth  his  hair  so  black  they  covered; 
Thræll  they  named  him,  . 

8.  The  skin  was  wrinkled  and  rough  on  his  hands, 

Knotted  his  knuckles,  . 

Thick  his  fingers,  and  ugly  his  face, 

Twisted  his  back,  and  big  his  heels. 


9.  He  began  to  grow, 
Soon  of  his  might 


and  to  gain  in  strength, 
good  use  he  made ; 


6.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  that  these  lines  form  a 
separate  stanza,  and  as  only  one  line  and  a  fragment  of  another 
are  left  of  stanza  7,  the  editions  have  grouped  the  lines  in  all 
sorts  of  ways,  with,  of  course,  various  conjectures  as  to  where 
lines  may  have  been  lost. 

7.  After  line  1  the  manuscript  has  only  four  words:  “cloth,” 
“black,”  “named,”  and  “Thræll.”  No  gap  is  anywhere  indicated. 
Editors  have  pieced  out  the  passage  in  various  ways.  Water ,  etc.: 
concerning  the  custom  of  sprinkling  water  on  children,  which 
long  antedated  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  cf.  Hovamol,  159 
and  note.  Black:  dark  hair,  among  the  blond  Scandinavians,  was 
the  mark  of  a  foreigner,  hence  of  a  slave.  T  hr  cell:  Thrall  or 
Slave. 

8.  In  the  manuscript  line  1  of  stanza  9  stands  before  stanza 
8,  neither  line  being  capitalized  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza.  I 
have  followed  Bugge’s  rearrangement.  The  manuscript  indicates 
no  gap  in  line  2,  but  nearly  all  editors  have  assumed  one, 
Grundtvig  supplying  “and  rough  his  nails.” 

9.  The  manuscript  marks  line  2  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 

[  205  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


With  bast  he  bound,  and  burdens  carried, 
Home  bore  faggots  the  whole  day  long. 

io.  One  came  to  their  home,  crooked  her  legs, 


Stained  were  her  feet, 
Flat  was  her  nose ; 

11.  Soon  in  the  midst 
By  her  side  there  sat 
They  whispered  both, 
Thræll  and  Thir, 

12.  Children  they  had, 
Fjosnir  and  Klur 
Hreim  and  Kleggi, 
Drumb,  Digraldi, 

Lut  and  Hosvir; 
Ground  they  dunged, 
Goats  they  tended, 


and  sunburned  her  arms, 
her  name  was  Thir. 

of  the  room  she  sat, 
the  son  of  the  house ; 
and  the  bed  made  ready, 
till  the  day  was  through. 

they  lived  and  were  happy, 
they  were  called,  methinks, 
Kefsir,  Fulnir, 

Drott  and  Leggjaldi, 
the- house  they  cared  for, 
and  swine  they  guarded, 
and  turf  they  dug. 


io.  A  line  may  well  have  dropped  out,  but  the  manuscript  is 
too  uncertain  as  to  the  stanza-divisions  to  make  any  guess  safe. 
Crooked:  the  word  in  the  original  is  obscure.  Stained:  literally, 
“water  was  on  her  soles.”  Thir:  “Serving-Woman.” 

12.  There  is  some  confusion  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
lines  and  division  into  stanzas  of  12  and  13.  The  names  mean: 
Fjosnir,  “Cattle-Man”;  Klur,  “The  Coarse”;  Hreim,  “The 
Shouter” ;  Kleggi,  “The  Horse-Fly” ;  Kefsir,  “Concubine-Keeper”  ; 
Fulnir,  “The  Stinking”;  Drumb,  “The  Log”;  Digraldi,  “The 
Fat”;  Drott,  “The  Sluggard”;  Leggjaldi,  “The  Big-Legged”; 
Lut,  “The  Bent”;  Hosvir,  “The  Grey.” 

[  206] 


Rigsthula 

13.  Daughters  had  they,  Drumba  and  Kumba, 
Ökkvinkalfa,  Arinnefja, 

Ysja  and  Ambott,  Eikintjasna, 
Totrugh^pja  and  Tronubeina; 

And  thence  has  risen  the  race  of  thralls. 

14.  Forward  went  Rig,  his  road  was  straight, 
To  a  hall  he  came,  and  a  door  there  hung; 
In  did  he  fare,  on  the  floor  was  a  fire: 

Afi  and  Amma  owned  the  house. 


15.  There  sat  the  twain, 
The  man  hewed  wood 
His  beard  was  trimmed, 
His  clothes  fitted  close; 


and  worked  at  their  tasks : 
for  the  weaver’s  beam ; 
o’er  his  brow  a  curl, 
in  the  corner  a  chest. 


16.  The  woman  sat  and  the  distaff  wielded, 

At  the  weaving  with  arms  outstretched  she 
worked ; 

On  her  head  was  a  band,  on  her  breast  a  smock; 

On  her  shoulders  a  kerchief  with  clasps  there  was. 


13.  The  names  mean:  Drumba,  “The  Log”;  Kumba,  “The 
Stumpy”;  Ökkvinkalfa,  “Fat-Legged”;  Arinnefja,  “Homely- 
Nosed”;  Ysja,  “The  Noisy”;  Ambott,  “The  Servant”;  Eikin¬ 
tjasna,  “The  Oaken  Peg”  (  ?)  ;  Totrughypja,  “Clothed  in  Rags”; 
Tronubeina,  “Crane-Legged.” 

14.  In  the  manuscript  line  4  stands  after  line  4  of  stanza  16, 
but  several  editors  have  rearranged  the  lines,  as  here.  Afi  and 
Amma:  Grandfather  and  Grandmother. 

15.  There  is  considerable  confusion  among  the  editors  as  to 
where  this  stanza  begins  and  ends. 

16.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 

[  207] 


Poetic  Edda 


17.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 
Soon  in  the  midst  of  the  room  he  sat, 
And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 


18.  Then  took  Amma  . 

The  vessels  full  with  the  fare  she  set, 

Calf’s  flesh  boiled  was  the  best  of  the  dainties. 


19.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 

He  rose  from  the  board,  made  ready  to  sleep; 
Soon  in  the  bed  himself  did  he  lay, 

And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 

20.  Thus  was  he  there  for  three  nights  long, 

Then  forward  he  went  on  the  midmost  way, 
And  so  nine  months  were  soon  passed  by. 

21.  A  son  bore  Amma,  with  water  they  sprinkled  him, 
Karl  they  named  him;  in  a  cloth  she  wrapped 

him, 

He  was  ruddy  of  face,  and  flashing  his  eyes. 


17.  The  manuscript  jumps  from  stanza  17,  line  1,  to  stanza 
19,  line  2.  Bugge  points  out  that  the  copyist’s  eye  was  presumably 
led  astray  by  the  fact  that  17,  1,  and  19,  1,  were  identical.  Lines 
2-3  of  17  are  supplied  from  stanzas  3  and  29. 

18.  I  have  followed  Bugge’s  conjectural  construction  of  the 
missing  stanza,  taking  lines  2  and  3  from  stanzas  31  and  4. 

19. The  manuscript  marks  line  2  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 

20.  The  manuscript  omits  line  2,  supplied  by  analogy  with 
stanza  6. 


[  208  ] 


Rigsthula 


22.  He  began  to  grow, 
Oxen  he  ruled, 
Houses  he  built, 
Carts  he  made, 


and  to  gain  in  strength, 
and  plows  made  ready, 
and  barns  he  fashioned, 
and  the  plow  he  managed. 


23.  Home  did  they  bring  the  bride  for  Karl, 

In  goatskins  clad,  and  keys  she  bore; 

Snör  was  her  name,  ’neath  the  veil  she  sat ; 

A  home  they  made  ready,  and  rings  exchanged, 
The  bed  they  decked,  and  a  dwelling  made. 


24. 


Sons  they  had, 
Hal  and  Dreng, 
Breith  and  Bondi, 
Bui  and  Boddi, 


they  lived  and  were  happy: 
Holth,  Thegn  and  Smith, 
Bundinskeggi, 
Brattskegg  and  Segg. 


21.  Most  editors  assume  a  lacuna,  after  either  line  2  or  line 
3.  Sijmons  assumes,  on  the  analogy  of  stanza  8,  that  a  complete 
stanza  describing  Karl  (“Yeoman”)  has  been  lost  between 
stanzas  21  and  22. 

22.  No  line  indicated  in  the  manuscript  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
Cart:  the  word  in  the  original,  “kartr,”  is  one  of  the  clear  signs 
of  the  Celtic  influence  noted  in  the  introduction. 

23.  Bring:  the  word  literally  means  “drove  in  a  wagon” — a 
mark  of  the  bride’s  social  status.  Sn'ór:  “Daughter-in-Law.” 
Bugge,  followed  by  several  editors,  maintains  that  line  4  was 
wrongly  interpolated  here  from  a  missing  stanza  describing  the 
marriage  of  Kon. 

24.  No  line  indicated  in  the  manuscript  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
The  names  mean:  Hal,  “Man”;  Dreng,  “The  Strong”;  Holth, 
“The  Holder  of  Land”;  Thegn,  “Freeman”;  Smith,  “Craftsman”; 
Breith,  “The  Broad-Shouldered”;  Bondi,  “Yeoman”;  Bundin¬ 
skeggi,  “With  Beard  Bound”  (i.e.,  not  allowed  to  hang  un¬ 
kempt)  ;  Bui,  “Dwelling-Owner”;  Boddi,  “Farm-Holder”;  Bratt¬ 
skegg,  “With  Beard  Carried  High”;  Segg,  “Man.” 

[  209  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


25.  Daughters  they  had,  and  their  names  are  here: 
Snot,  Bruth,  Svanni,  Svarri,  Sprakki, 

Fljoth,  Sprund  and  Vif,  Feima,  Ristil: 

And  thence  has  risen  the  yeomen’s  race. 

26.  Thence  went  Rig,  his  road  was  straight, 

A  hall  he  saw,  the  doors  faced  south; 

The  portal  stood  wide,  on  the  posts  was  a  ring, 
Then  in  he  fared ;  the  floor  was  strewn. 

27.  Within  two  gazed  in  each  other’s  eyes, 

Fathir  and  Mothir,  and  played  with  their  fingers  ; 
There  sat  the  house-lord,  wound  strings  for  the 
bow, 

Shafts  he  fashioned,  and  bows  he  shaped. 

28.  The  lady  sat,  at  her  arms  she  looked, 

She  smoothed  the  cloth,  and  fitted  the  sleeves; 
Gay  was  her  cap,  on  her  breast  were  clasps, 
Broad  was  her  train,  of  blue  wras  her  gown, 


25.  No  line  indicated  in  the  manuscript  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
The  names  mean:  Snot,  “Worthy  Woman”;  Bruth,  “Bride”; 
Svanni,  “The  Slender”;  Svarri,  “The  Proud”;  Sprakki,  “The 
Fair”;  Fljoth,  “Woman”  (?);  Sprund,  “The  Proud”;  Vif, 
“Wife”;  Feima,  “The  Bashful”;  Ristil,  “The  Graceful.” 

26.  Many  editors  make  a  stanza  out  of  line  4  and  lines  1-2  of 
the  following  stanza.  Strewn:  with  fresh  straw  in  preparation 
for  a  feast;  cf.  Thrymskvitha,  22. 

27.  Fathir  and  Mothir:  Father  and  Mother.  Perhaps  lines  3-4 
should  form  a  stanza  with  28,  1-2. 

28.  Bugge  thinks  lines  5-6,  like  23,  4,  got  in  here  from  the 
lost  stanzas  describing  Kon’s  bride  and  his  marriage. 

[210] 


Rigsthula 

Her  brows  were  bright,  her  breast  was  shining, 
Whiter  her  neck  than  new-fallen  snow. 

29.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 

Soon  in  the  midst  of  the  room  he  sat, 

And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 

30.  Then  Mothir  brought  a  broidered  cloth, 

Of  linen  bright,  and  the  board  she  covered; 

And  then  she  took  the  loaves  so  thin, 

And  laid  them,  white  from  the  wheat,  on  the 
cloth. 

31.  Then  forth  she  brought  the  vessels  full, 

With  silver  covered,  and  set  before  them, 

Meat  all  browned,  and  well-cooked  birds; 

In  the  pitcher  was  wine,  of  plate  were  the  cups, 
So  drank  they  and  talked  till  the  day  was  gone. 

32.  Rig  knew  well  wise  words  to  speak, 

Soon  did  he  rise,  made  ready  to  sleep ; 

So  in  the  bed  himself  did  he  lay, 

And  on  either  side  the  others  were. 


31.  The  manuscript  of  lines  1-3  is  obviously  defective,  as 
there  are  too  many  words  for  two  lines,  and  not  enough  for  the 
full  three.  The  meaning,  however,  is  clearly  very  much  as  indi¬ 
cated  in  the  translation.  Gering’s  emendation,  which  I  have  fol¬ 
lowed,  consists  simply  in  shifting  “set  before  them”  from  the 
first  line  to  the  second — where  the  manuscript  has  no  verb, — and 
supplying  the  verb  “brought”  in  line  1.  The  various  editions 
contain  all  sorts  of  suggestions. 

32.  The  manuscript  begins  both  line  1  and  line  2  with  a  cap- 

[211] 


Poetic  Edda 


33.  Thus  was  he  there  for  three  nights  long, 

Then  forward  he  went  on  the  midmost  way, 
And  so  nine  months  were  soon  passed  by. 

34.  A  son  had  Mothir,  in  silk  they  wrapped  him, 
With  water  they  sprinkled  him,  Jarl  he  was; 
Blond  was  his  hair,  and  bright  his  cheeks, 

Grim  as  a  snake’s  were  his  glowing  eyes. 

35.  To  grow  in  the  house  did  Jarl  begin, 

Shields  he  brandished,  and  bow-strings  wound, 
Bows  he  shot,  and  shafts  he  fashioned, 

Arrows  he  loosened,  and  lances  wielded, 

Horses  he  rode,  and  hounds  unleashed, 

Swords  he  handled,  and  sounds  he  swam. 

36.  Straight  from  the  grove  came  striding  Rig, 

Rig  came  striding,  and  runes  he  taught  him; 

By  his  name  he  called  him,  as  son  he  claimed  him, 


ital  preceded  by  a  period,  which  has  led  to  all  sorts  of  strange 
stanza-combinations  and  guesses  at  lost  lines  in  the  various  edi¬ 
tions.  The  confusion  includes  stanza  33,  wherein  no  line  is 
marked  in  the  manuscript  as  beginning  a  stanza. 

34.  Jarl :  “Nobly-Born.” 

35.  Various  lines  have  been  regarded  as  interpolations,  3  and 
6  being  most  often  thus  rejected. 

36.  Lines  1,  2,  and  5  all  begin  with  capitals  preceded  by 
periods,  a  fact  which,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  obviously  de¬ 
fective  state  of  the  following  stanza,  has  led  to  all  sorts  of  con¬ 
jectural  emendations.  The  exact  significance  of  Rig’s  giving  his 
own  name  to  Jarl  (cf.  stanza  46),  and  thus  recognizing  him, 
potentially  at  least,  as  a  king,  depends  on  the  conditions  under 

[212] 


Rigsthula 

And  bade  him  hold  his  heritage  wide, 
His  heritage  wide,  the  ancient  homes. 


37- 


Forward  he  rode  through  the  forest  dark, 
O’er  the  frosty  crags,  till  a  hall  he  found. 


38.  His  spear  he  shook,  his  shield  he  brandished, 

His  horse  he  spurred,  with  his  sword  he  hewed; 
Wars  he  raised,  and  reddened  the  field, 
Warriors  slew  he,  and  land  he  won. 

39.  Eighteen  halls  ere  long  did  he  hold, 

Wealth  did  he  get,  and  gave  to  all, 

Stones  and  jewels  and  slim-flanked  steeds, 

Rings  he  offered,  and  arm-rings  shared. 


40.  His  messengers  went  by  the  ways  so  wet, 
And  came  to  the  hall  where  Hersir  dwelt; 
His  daughter  was  fair  and  slender-fingered, 
Erna  the  wise  the  maiden  was. 


which  the  poem  was  composed  (cf.  Introductory  Note).  The 
whole  stanza,  particularly  the  reference  to  the  teaching  of  magic 
(runes),  fits  Othin  far  better  than  Heimdall. 

37.  Something — one  or  two  lines,  or  a  longer  passage — has 
clearly  been  lost,  describing  the  beginning  of  Jarl’s  journey.  Yet 
many  editors,  relying  on  the  manuscript  punctuation,  make  37 
and  38  into  a  single  stanza. 

39.  The  manuscript  marks  both  lines  1  and  2  as  beginning 
stanzas. 

40.  Hersir:  “Lord”;  the  hersir  was,  in  the  early  days  before 
the  establishment  of  a  kingdom  in  Norway,  the  local  chief,  and 

[213] 


Poetic  Edda 


41.  Her  hand  they  sought,  and  home  they  brought 

her, 

Wedded  to  Jarl  the  veil  she  wore; 

Together  they  dwelt,  their  joy  was  great, 
Children  they  had,  and  happy  they  lived. 

42.  Bur  was  the  eldest,  and  Barn  the  next, 

Joth  and  Athal,  Arfi,  Mog, 

Nith  and  Svein,  soon  they  began — 

Sun  and  Nithjung —  to  play  and  swim; 

Kund  was  one,  and  the  youngest  Kon. 

43.  Soon  grew  up  the  sons  of  Jarl, 

Beasts  they  tamed,  and  bucklers  rounded, 

Shafts  they  fashioned,  and  spears  they  shook. 

44.  But  Kon  the  Young  learned  runes  to  use, 

Runes  everlasting,  the  runes  of  life; 


hence  the  highest  recognized  authority.  During  and  after  the 
time  of  Harald  the  Fair-Haired  the  name  lost  something  of  its 
distinction,  the  hersir  coming  to  take  rank  below  the  jarl. 
Erna:  “The  Capable.” 

42.  The  names  mean:  Bur,  “Son”;  Barn,  “Child”;  Joth, 
“Child”;  Athal,  “Offspring”;  Arfi,  “Heir”;  Mog,  “Son”;  Nith, 
“Descendant”;  Svein,  “Boy”;  Sun,  “Son”;  Nithjung,  “Descend¬ 
ant”;  Kund,  “Kinsman”;  Kon,  “Son”  (of  noble  birth).  Concern¬ 
ing  the  use  made  of  this  last  name,  see  note  on  stanza  44.  It  is 
curious  that  there  is  no  list  of  the  daughters  of  Jarl  and  Erna, 
and  accordingly  Vigfusson  inserts  here  the  names  listed  in  stanza 
25.  Grundtvig  rearranges  the  lines  of  stanzas  42  and  43. 

44.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  line  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
Kon  the  Young:  a  remarkable  bit  of  fanciful  etymology;  the 

[214] 


Rigsthula 

Soon  could  he  well  the  warriors  shield, 

Dull  the  swordblade,  and  still  the  seas. 

45.  Bird-chatter  learned  he,  flames  could  he  lessen, 
Minds  could  quiet,  and  sorrows  calm ; 


The  might  and  strength  of  twice  four  men. 

46.  With  Rig-Jarl  soon  the  runes  he  shared, 

More  crafty  he  was,  and  greater  his  wisdom ; 
The  right  he  sought,  and  soon  he  won  it, 

Rig  to  be  called,  and  runes  to  know. 

47.  Young  Kon  rode  forth  through  forest  and  grove, 
Shafts  let  loose,  and  birds  he  lured ; 

There  spake  a  crow  on  a  bough  that  sat : 

“Why  lurest  thou,  Kon,  the  birds  to  come? 


phrase  is  ‘Konr  ungr,”  which  could  readily  be  contracted  into 
“Konungr,”  the  regular  word  meaning  “king.”  The  “kon”  part 
is  actually  not  far  out,  but  the  second  syllable  of  “konungr”  has 
nothing  to  do  with  “ungr”  meaning  “young.”  Runes:  a  long  list 
of  just  such  magic  charms,  dulling  swordblades,  quenching 
flames,  and  so  on,  is  given  in  Hovamol,  147-163. 

45.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  line  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
Minds:  possibly  “seas,”  the  word  being  doubtful.  Most  editors 
assume  the  gap  as  indicated. 

46.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  line  as  beginning  a  stanza. 
Rig-Jarl:  Kon’s  father;  cf.  stanza  36. 

47.  This  stanza  has  often  been  combined  with  48,  either  as  a 
whole  or  in  part.  Crow:  birds  frequently  play  the  part  of 
mentor  in  Norse  literature;  cf.,  for  example,  Helgakvitha 
Hundingsbana  I,  5,  and  Fafnismol ,  32. 

[215] 


Poetic  Edda 


48.  “  ’Twere  better  forth  on  thy  steed  to  fare, 
.  and  the  host  to  slay. 


49. 


“The  halls  of  Dan 
Greater  their  wealth 
Good  are  they  at 
Trying  of  weapons, 

* 


and  Danp  are  noble, 
than  thou  hast  gained ; 
guiding  the  keel, 

and  giving  of  wounds. 

*  * 


48.  This  fragment  is  not  indicated  as  a  separate  stanza  in  the 
manuscript.  Perhaps  half  a  line  has  disappeared,  or,  as  seems 
more  likely,  the  gap  includes  two  lines  and  a  half.  Sijmons 
actually  constructs  these  lines,  largely  on  the  basis  of  stanzas 
35  and  38.  Bugge  fills  in  the  half-line  lacuna  as  indicated  above 
with  “The  sword  to  wield.” 

49.  Dan  and  Danp:  These  names  are  largely  responsible  for 
the  theory  that  the  Rigsthula  was  composed  in  Denmark. 
According  to  the  Latin  epitome  of  the  Skjöldungasaga  by 
Arngrimur  Jonsson,  “Rig  (Rigus)  was  a  man  not  the  least  among 
the  great  ones  of  his  time.  He  married  the  daughter  of  a  certain 
Danp,  lord  of  Danpsted,  whose  name  was  Dana;  and  later, 
having  won  the  royal  title  for  his  province,  left  as  his  heir  his 
son  by  Dana,  called  Dan  or  Danum,  all  of  whose  subjects  were 
called  Danes.”  This  may  or  may  not  be  conclusive,  and  it  is  a 
great  pity  that  the  manuscript  breaks  off  abruptly  at  this  stanza. 


[216] 


HYNDLULJOTH 

The  Poem  of  Hyndla 

Introductory  Note 

The  Hyndluljoth  is  found  in  neither  of  the  great  manuscripts 
of  the  Poetic  Edda,  but  is  included  in  the  so-called  Flateyjarbok 
(Book  of  the  Flat  Island),  an  enormous  compilation  made  some¬ 
where  about  1400.  The  lateness  of  this  manuscript  would  of 
itself  be  enough  to  cast  a  doubt  upon  the  condition  in  which  the 
poem  has  been  preserved,  and  there  can  be  no  question  that 
what  we  have  of  it  is  in  very  poor  shape.  It  is,  in  fact,  two  sep¬ 
arate  poems,  or  parts  of  them,  clumsily  put  together.  The  longer 
one,  the  Poem  of  Hyndla  proper,  is  chiefly  a  collection  of  names, 
not  strictly  mythological  but  belonging  to  the  semi-historical 
hero-sagas  of  Norse  tradition.  The  wise-woman,  Hyndla,  being 
asked  by  Freyja  to  trace  the  ancestry  of  her  favorite,  Ottar,  for 
the  purpose  of  deciding  a  wager,  gives  a  complex  genealogy 
including  many  of  the  heroes  who  appear  in  the  popular  sagas 
handed  down  from  days  long  before  the  Icelandic  settlements. 
The  poet  was  learned,  but  without  enthusiasm;  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  composed  the  Hyndluljoth  much  before  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury,  though  the  material  of  which  it  is  compounded  must  have 
been  very  much  older.  Although  the  genealogies  are  essentially 
continental,  the  poem  seems  rather  like  a  product  of  the  archaeo¬ 
logical  period  of  Iceland. 

Inserted  bodily  in  the  Hyndluljoth  proper  is  a  fragment  of 
fifty-one  lines,  taken  from  a  poem  of  which,  by  a  curious  chance, 
we  know  the  name.  Snorri  quotes  one  stanza  of  it,  calling  it  “the 
short  Voluspo.}}  The  fragment  preserved  gives,  of  course,  no  indi¬ 
cation  of  the  length  of  the  original  poem,  but  it  shows  that  it  was 
a  late  and  very  inferior  imitation  of  the  great  Voluspo.  Like  the 
Hyndluljoth  proper,  it  apparently  comes  from  the  twelfth  cen¬ 
tury;  but  there  is  nothing  whatever  to  indicate  that  the  two  poems 
were  the  work  of  the  same  man,  or  were  ever  connected  in  any 
way  until  some  blundering  copyist  mixed  them  up.  Certainly  the 
connection  did  not  exist  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
when  Snorri  quoted  “the  short  Voluspo  ” 

Neither  poem  is  of  any  great  value,  either  as  mythology  or  as 
poetry.  The  author  of  “the  short  Voluspo ”  seems,  indeed,  to  have 
been  more  or  less  confused  as  to  his  facts;  and  both  poets  were 

[217] 


Poetic  Edda 


too  late  to  feel  anything  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  earlier  school. 
The  names  of  Hyndla’s  heroes,  of  course,  suggest  an  unlimited 
number  of  stories,  but  as  most  of  these  have  no  direct  relation  to 
the  poems  of  the  Edda,  I  have  limited  the  notes  to  a  mere  record 
of  who  the  persons  mentioned  were,  and  the  saga-groups  in 
which  they  appeared. 


Frey j a  spake : 

1.  “Maiden,  awake!  wake  thee,  my  friend, 
My  sister  Hyndla,  in  thy  hollow  cave ! 
Already  comes  darkness,  and  ride  must  we 
To  Valhall  to  seek  the  sacred  hall. 

2.  “The  favor  of  Heerfather  seek  we  to  find, 
To  his  followers  gold  he  gladly  gives; 
To  Hermoth  gave  he  helm  and  mail-coat, 
And  to  Sigmund  he  gave  a  sword  as  gift. 


1.  Freyja:  The  names  of  the  speakers  do  not  appear  in  the 
manuscripts.  On  Freyja  cf.  Voluspo,  21  and  note;  Skirnismol,  in¬ 
troductory  prose  and  note;  Lokasenna,  introductory  prose  and 
note.  As  stanzas  9-10  show,  Ottar  has  made  a  wager  of  his  entire 
inheritance  with  Angantyr  regarding  the  relative  loftiness  of 
their  ancestry,  and  by  rich  offerings  (Hyndla  hints  at  less  com¬ 
mendable  methods)  has  induced  Freyja  to  assist  him  in  estab¬ 
lishing  his  genealogy.  Freyja,  having  turned  Ottar  for  purposes 
of  disguise  into  a  boar,  calls  on  the  giantess  Hyndla  (“She-Dog”) 
to  aid  her.  Hyndla  does  not  appear  elsewhere  in  the  poems. 

2.  Heerfather :  Othin ;  cf.  Voluspo,  30.  Hermoth:  mentioned 
in  the  Prose  Edda  as  a  son  of  Othin  who  is  sent  to  Hel  to  ask 
for  the  return  of  the  slain  Baldr.  Sigmund:  according  to  the 
V olsungasaga  Sigmund  was  the  son  of  Volsung,  and  hence 
Othin’s  great-great-grandson  (note  that  Wagner  eliminates  all 
the  intervening  generations  by  the  simple  expedient  of  using 

[218] 


Hyndluljoth 

3.  “Triumph  to  some,  and  treasure  to  others, 

To  many  wisdom  and  skill  in  words, 

Fair  winds  to  the  sailor,  to  the  singer  his  art, 
And  a  manly  heart  to  many  a  hero. 

4.  “Thor  shall  I  honor,  and  this  shall  I  ask, 
That  his  favor  true  mayst  thou  ever  find; 


Though  little  the  brides 

5.  “From  the  stall  now  one 
And  along  with  my  boar 
For  slow  my  boar  goes 
And  I  would  not  weary 


of  the  giants  he  loves. 

of  thy  wolves  lead  forth, 
shalt  thou  let  him  run; 
on  the  road  of  the  gods, 
my  worthy  steed.” 


Hyndla  spake : 

6.  “Falsely  thou  askest  me,  Freyja,  to  go, 
For  so  in  the  glance  of  thine  eyes  I  see; 


Volsung’s  name  as  one  of  Othin’s  many  appellations).  Sigmund 
alone  was  able  to  draw  from  the  tree  the  sword  which  a  mys¬ 
terious  stranger  (Othin,  of  course)  had  thrust  into  it  (compare 
the  first  act  of  Wagner’s  Die  fValkiire). 

3.  Sijmons  suggests  that  this  stanza  may  be  an  interpolation. 

4.  No  lacuna  after  line  2  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Edi¬ 
tors  have  attempted  various  experiments  in  rearranging  this  and 
the  following  stanza. 

5.  Some  editors,  following  Simrock,  assign  this  whole  stanza 
to  Hyndla;  others  assign  to  her  lines  3-4.  Giving  the  entire  stanza 
to  Freyja  makes  better  sense  than  any  other  arrangement,  but  is 
dependent  on  changing  the  manuscript’s  “thy”  in  line  3  to  “my,” 
as  suggested  by  Bugge.  The  boar  on  which  Freyja  rides  (“my 
worthy  steed”)  is,  of  course,  Ottar. 

6.  Hyndla  detects  Ottar,  and  accuses  Freyja  of  having  her 

[219] 


Poetic  Edda 


On  the  way  of  the  slain  thy  lover  goes  with  thee, 
Ottar  the  young,  the  son  of  Instein.” 

Frey j a  spake: 

7.  “Wild  dreams,  methinks,  are  thine  when  thou 

sayest 

My  lover  is  with  me  on  the  way  of  the  slain ; 
There  shines  the  boar  with  bristles  of  gold, 
Hildisvini,  he  who  was  made 
By  Dain  and  Nabbi,  the  cunning  dwarfs. 

8.  “Now  let  us  down  from  our  saddles  leap, 

And  talk  of  the  race  of  the  heroes  twain; 

The  men  who  were  born  of  the  gods  above, 


9.  “A  wager  have  made  in  the  foreign  metal 
Ottar  the  young  and  Angantyr; 


lover  with  her.  Unless  Ottar  is  identical  with  Oth  (cf.  V oluspo , 
25  and  note),  which  seems  most  unlikely,  there  is  no  other  ref¬ 
erence  to  this  love  aifair.  The  way  of  the  slain:  the  road  to 
Valhall. 

7.  Various  experiments  have  been  made  in  condensing  the 
stanza  into  four  lines,  or  in  combining  it  with  stanza  8.  Hildi¬ 
svini  (“Battle-Swine”)  :  perhaps  Freyja  refers  to  the  boar  with 
golden  bristles  given,  according  to  Snorri,  to  her  brother  Freyr 
by  the  dwarfs.  Dain:  a  dwarf;  cf.  Voluspo,  n.  Nabbi:  a  dwarf 
nowhere  else  mentioned. 

8.  The  first  line  is  obviously  corrupt  in  the  manuscript,  and 
has  been  variously  emended.  The  general  assumption  is  that  in 
the  interval  between  stanzas  7  and  8  Freyja  and  Hyndla  have 
arrived  at  Valhall.  No  lacuna  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript. 

9.  Foreign  metal:  gold.  The  word  valr,  meaning  “foreign,” 

[  220  ] 


Hyndluljoth 

We  must  guard,  for  the  hero  young  to  have, 
H  is  father’s  wealth,  the  fruits  of  his  race. 


IO. 


“For  me  a  shrine 
And  now  to  glass 
Oft  with  the  blood 
In  the  goddesses  ever 


of  stones  he  made, — 
the  rock  has  grown; — 
of  beasts  was  it  red ; 
did  Ottar  trust. 


n.  “Tell  to  me  now  the  ancient  names, 

And  the  races  of  all  that  were  born  of  old : 

Who  are  of  the  Skjoldungs,  who  of  the  Skilfings, 
Who  of  the  Othlings,  who  of  the  Ylfings, 

Who  are  the  free-born,  who  are  the  high-born, 
The  noblest  of  men  that  in  Mithgarth  dwell?” 


and  akin  to  “Welsh,”  is  interesting  in  this  connection,  and  some 
editors  interpret  it  frankly  as  “Celtic,”  i.e.,  Irish. 

10.  To  glass:  i.e.,  the  constant  fires  on  the  altar  have  fused 
the  stone  into  glass.  Glass  beads,  etc.,  were  of  very  early  use, 
though  the  use  of  glass  for  windows  probably  did  not  begin  in 
Iceland  much  before  1200. 

11.  Possibly  two  stanzas,  or  perhaps  one  with  interpolations. 
The  manuscript  omits  the  first  half  of  line  4,  here  filled  out  from 
stanza  16,  line  2.  Skjoldungs :  the  descendants  of  Skjold,  a  myth¬ 
ical  king  who  was  Othin’s  son  and  the  ancestor  of  the  Danish 
kings;  cf.  Snorri’s  Edda,  Skaldskaparmal,  43.  Skilfings:  mentioned 
by  Snorri  as  descendants  of  King  Skelfir,  a  mythical  ruler  in  “the 
East.”  In  Grimnismol,  54,  the  name  Skilfing  appears  as  one  of 
Othin’s  many  appellations.  Othlings:  Snorri  derives  this  race  from 
Authi,  the  son  of  Halfdan  the  Old  (cf.  stanza  14).  Ylfings:  some 
editors  have  changed  this  to  “Ynglings,”  as  in  stanza  16,  referring 
to  the  descendants  of  Yng  or  Yngvi,  another  son  of  Halfdan,  but 
the  reference  may  be  to  the  same  mythical  family  to  which  Helgi 
Hundingsbane  belonged  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  5). 

[221  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Hyndla  spake : 

12.  “Thou  art,  Ottar,  the  son  of  Instein, 

And  Instein  the  son  of  Alf  the  Old, 

Alf  of  Ulf,  Ulf  of  Sæfari, 

And  Sæfari’s  father  was  Svan  the  Red. 

13.  “Thy  mother,  bright  with  bracelets  fair, 

Hight,  methinks,  the  priestess  Hledis; 

Frothi  her  father,  and  Friaut  her  mother; — 
Her  race  of  the  mightiest  men  must  seem. 

14.  “Of  old  the  noblest  of  all  was  Ali, 

Before  him  Halfdan,  foremost  of  Skjoldungs; 
Famed  were  the  battles  the  hero  fought, 

To  the  corners  of  heaven  his  deeds  were  carried. 

15.  “Strengthened  by  Eymund,  the  strongest  of  men, 
Sigtrygg  he  slew  with  the  ice-cold  sword; 

His  bride  was  Almveig,  the  best  of  women, 

And  eighteen  boys  did  Almveig  bear  him. 


12.  Instein:  mentioned  in  the  Half s  sag  a  as  one  of  the  war¬ 
riors  of  King  Half  of  Horthaland  (the  so-called  Halfsrekkar) . 
The  others  mentioned  in  this  stanza  appear  in  one  of  the  later 
mythical  accounts  of  the  settlement  of  Norway. 

14.  Stanzas  14-16  are  clearly  interpolated,  as  Friaut  (stanza 
13,  line  3)  is  the  daughter  of  Hildigun  (stanza  17,  line  1). 
Halfdaji  the  Old,  a  mythical  king  of  Denmark,  called  by  Snorri 
“the  most  famous  of  all  kings,”  of  whom  it  was  foretold  that 
“for  three  hundred  years  there  should  be  no  woman  and  no  man 
in  his  line  who  was  not  of  great  repute.”  After  the  slaying  of 
Sigtrygg  he  married  Almveig  (or  Alvig),  daughter  of  King 
Eymund  of  Holmgarth  (i.e.,  Russia),  who  bore  him  eighteen 

[  222] 


Hyndluljoth 

1 6.  “Hence  come  the  Skjoldungs,  hence  the  Skilfings, 
Hence  the  Othlings,  hence  the  Ynglings, 

Hence  come  the  free-born,  hence  the  high-born, 
The  noblest  of  men  that  in  Mithgarth  dwell: 
And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 

17.  “Hildigun  then  her  mother  hight, 

The  daughter  of  Svava  and  Sækonung; 

And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 

It  is  much  to  know, —  wilt  thou  hear  yet  more? 

18.  “The  mate  of  Dag  was  a  mother  of  heroes, 
Thora,  who  bore  him  the  bravest  of  fighters, 
Frathmar  and  Gyrth  and  the  Frekis  twain, 

Am  and  Jofurmar,  Alf  the  Old; 

It  is  much  to  know, —  wilt  thou  hear  yet  more? 

19.  “Her  husband  was  Ketil,  the  heir  of  Klypp, 

He  was  of  thy  mother  the  mother’s-father ; 


sons,  nine  at  one  birth.  These  nine  were  all  slain,  but  the  other 
nine  were  traditionally  the  ancestors  of  the  most  famous  families 
in  Northern  hero  lore. 

16.  Compare  stanza  n.  All  or  part  of  this  stanza  may  be 
interpolated. 

17.  Hildigun  (or  Hildiguth)  :  with  this  the  poem  returns  to 
Ottar’s  direct  ancestry,  Hildigun  being  Friaut’s  mother.  Line  4.: 
cf.  the  refrain-line  in  the  Voluspo  (stanzas  27,  29,  etc.). 

18.  Another  interpolation,  as  Ketil  (stanza  19,  line  1)  is  the 
husband  of  Hildigun  (stanza  17).  Dag:  one  of  Halfdan’s  sons, 
and  ancestor  of  the  Döglings.  Line  5  may  be  a  late  addition. 

19.  Ketil:  the  semi-mythical  Ketil  Hortha-Kari,  from  whom 
various  Icelandic  families  traced  their  descent.  Hoalf:  probably 
King  Half  of  Horthaland,  hero  of  the  Halfssaga ,  and  son  of 
Hjorleif  and  Hild  (cf.  stanza  12,  note). 

[  223  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Before  the  days  of  Kari  was  Frothi, 

And  born  of  Hild  was  Hoalf  then. 

20.  “Next  was  Nanna,  daughter  of  Nokkvi, 

Thy  father’s  kinsman  her  son  became; 

Old  is  the  line,  and  longer  still, 

And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 

21.  “Isolf  and  Osolf,  the  sons  of  Olmoth, 

Whose  wife  was  Skurhild,  the  daughter  of  Sket 
kil, 

Count  them  among  the  heroes  mighty, 

And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool ! 

22.  “Gunnar  the  Bulwark,  Grim  the  Hardy, 

Thorir  the  Iron-shield,  Ulf  the  Gaper, 

Brodd  and  Hörvir  both  did  I  know; 

In  the  household  they  were  of  Hrolf  the  Old. 


20.  Nanna:  the  manuscript  has  “Manna.”  Of  Nanna  and  her 
father,  Nokkvi,  we  know  nothing,  but  apparently  Nanna’s  son 
married  a  sister  of  Instein,  Ottar’s  father. 

21.  Olmoth:  one  of  the  sons  of  Ketil  Hortha-Kari.  Line  4: 
here,  and  generally  hereafter  when  it  appears  in  the  poem,  this 
refrain-line  is  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript  to  the  word  “all.” 

22.  An  isolated  stanza,  which  some  editors  place  after  stanza 
24,  others  combining  lines  1-2  with  the  fragmentary  stanza  23. 
In  the  manuscript  lines  3-4  stand  after  stanza  24,  where  they  fail 
to  connect  clearly  with  anything.  Hrolf  the  Old:  probably  King 
Hrolf  Gautreksson  of  Gautland,  in  the  saga  relating  to  whom 
( Fornaldar  s'ögur  III,  57  if.)  appear  the  names  of  Thorir  the 
Iron-shield  and  Grim  Thorkelsson. 

[  224  1 


23- 


Hyndluljoth 

“Hervarth,  Hjorvarth,  Hrani,  Angantyr, 
Bui  and  Brami,  Barri  and  Reifnir, 

Tind  and  Tyrfing,  the  Haddings  twain, — 
And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 


24.  “Eastward  in  Bolm  were  boin  of  old 
The  sons  of  Arngrim  and  Eyfura; 

With  berserk-tumult  and  baleful  deed 

Like  fire  o’er  land  and  sea  they  fared, — 
And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 


25.  “The  sons  of  Jormunrek  all  of  yore 

To  the  gods  in  death  were  as  offerings  given; 


23.  Stanzas  23  and  24  name  the  twelve  Berserkers,  the  sons  of 
Arngrim  and  Eyfura,  the  story  of  whom  is  told  in  the  Hervarar- 
saga  and  the  Orvar-Oddssaga.  Saxo  Grammaticus  tells  of  the 
battle  between  them  and  Hjalmar  and  Orvar-Odd.  Line  1  does 
not  appear  in  the  manuscript,  but  is  added  from  the  list  of  names 
given  in  the  sagas.  The  Berserkers  were  wild  warriors,  distin¬ 
guished  above  all  by  the  fits  of  frenzy  to  which  they  were  subject 
in  battle;  during  these  fits  they  howled  like  wild  beasts,  foamed 
at  the  mouth,  and  gnawed  the  iron  rims  of  their  shields.  At  such 
times  they  were  proof  against  steel  or  fire,  but  when  the  fever 
abated  they  were  weak.  The  etymology  of  the  word  berserk  is 
disputed;  probably,  however,  it  means  “bear-shirt.” 

24.  The  manuscript  omits  the  first  half  of  line  1,  here  supplied 
from  the  Orcuar-Oddssaga.  Bolm:  probably  the  island  of  Bolmsö, 
in  the  Swedish  province  of  Smaland.  In  the  manuscript  and  in 
most  editions  stanza  24  is  followed  by  lines  3-4  of  stanza  22. 
Some  editors  reject  line  5  as  spurious. 

25.  In  the  manuscript  line  1  stands  after  line  4  of  stanza  29. 
Probably  a  stanza  enumerating  Jormunrek’s  sons  has  been  lost. 
Many  editors  combine  lines  3-4  of  stanza  22  and  lines  2-4  of 

[  225  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


He  was  kinsman  of  Sigurth, —  hear  well  what  1 

say,— 

The  foe  of  hosts,  and  Fafnir’s  slayer. 

26.  “From  Volsung’s  seed  #was  the  hero  sprung, 

And  Hjordis  was  born  of  Hrauthung’s  race, 
And  Eylimi  from  the  Othlings  came, — 

And  all  are  thy  kinsmen,  Ottar,  thou  fool! 


27. 


“Gunnar  and  Hogni, 
And  Guthrun  as  well, 
But  Gotthorm  was  not 
Although  the  brother 
And  all  are  thy  kinsmen 


the  heirs  of  Gjuki, 
who  their  sister  was ; 

of  Gjuki’s  race, 
of  both  he  was: 

Ottar,  thou  fool! 


stanza  25  into  one  stanza.  Jormunrek:  the  historical  Ermanarich, 
king  of  the  Goths,  who  died  about  376.  According  to  Norse  tra¬ 
dition,  in  which  Jormunrek  played  a  large  part,  he  slew  his  own 
sons  (cf.  Guthrunarhvot  and  Hamthesmol) .  In  the  saga  Jormun¬ 
rek  married  Sigurth’s  daughter,  Svanhild.  Stanzas  25-27  con¬ 
nect  Ottar’s  descent  with  the  whole  Volsung-Sigurth-Jormunrek- 
Gjuki  genealogy.  The  story  of  Sigurth  is  the  basis  for  most  of 
the  heroic  poems  of  the  Edda,  of  the  famous  V olsungasaga,  and, 
in  Germany,  of  the  Nihelungenlied.  On  his  battle  with  the  dragon 
Fafnir  cf.  Fafnismol. 

26.  Foisting:  Sigurth’s  grandfather  and  Othin’s  great-grand¬ 
son.  Hjordis :  daughter  of  King  Eylimi,  wife  of  Sigmund  and 
mother  of  Sigurth.  Othlings:  cf.  stanza  11. 

27.  Gunnar ,  Hogni,  and  Guthrun:  the  three  children  of  the 
Burgundian  king  Gjuki  and  his  wife  Grimhild  (Kriemhild)  ; 
Guthrun  was  Sigurth’s  wife.  Gotthorm,  the  third  brother,  who 
killed  Sigurth  at  Brynhild’s  behest,  was  Grimhild’s  son,  and  thus 
a  step-son  of  Gjuki.  These  four  play  an  important  part  in  the 
heroic  cycle  of  Eddie  poems.  Cf.  Gripisspo,  introductory  note. 

[  226  ] 


Hyndluljoth 

28.  “Of  Hvethna’s  sons  was  Haki  the  best, 

And  Hjorvarth  the  father  of  Hvethna  was; 


29- 


“Harald  Battle-tooth 
Hrörek  the  Ring-giver 
Auth  the  Deep-minded 
But  Rathbarth  the  father 
And  all  are  thy  kinsmen, 


of  Auth  was  born, 
her  husband  was ; 
was  Ivar’s  daughter, 
of  Randver  was: 
Ottar,  thou  fool!” 


*  *  * 


Fragment  of  "The  Short  Voluspo ” 

30.  Eleven  in  number  the  gods  were  known, 

When  Baldr  o’er  the  hill  of  death  was  bowed ; 
And  this  to  avenge  was  Vali  swift, 

When  his  brother’s  slayer  soon  he  slew. 


28.  In  the  manuscript  and  in  many  editions  these  two  lines 
stand  between  stanzas  33  and  34.  The  change  here  made  follows 
Bugge.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap  between  stanzas  27  and 

29.  Hvethna:  wife  of  King  Halfdan  of  Denmark. 

29.  The  manuscript  and  many  editions  include  line  1  of  stanza 
25  after  line  4  of  stanza  29.  The  story  of  Harald  Battle-tooth  is 
told  in  detail  by  Saxo  Grammaticus.  Harald’s  father  was  Hrörek, 
king  of  Denmark;  his  mother  was  Auth,  daughter  of  Ivar,  king 
of  Sweden.  After  Ivar  had  treacherously  detroyed  Hrörek,  Auth 
fled  with  Harald  to  Russia,  where  she  married  King  Rathbarth. 
Harald’s  warlike  career  in  Norway,  and  his  death  on  the  Bra- 
valla-field  at  the  hands  of  his  nephew,  Sigurth  Ring,  son  of 
Randver  and  grandson  of  Rathbarth  and  Auth,  were  favorite 
saga  themes. 

30.  At  this  point  begins  the  fragmentary  and  interpolated 
“short  Voluspo ”  identified  by  Snorri.  The  manuscript  gives  no 
indication  of  the  break  in  the  poem’s  continuity.  Eleven:  there 

[  227  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


31.  The  father  of  Baldr  was  the  heir  of  Bur, 


32.  Freyr’s  wife  was  Gerth,  the  daughter  of  Gymir, 
Of  the  giants’  brood,  and  Aurbotha  bore  her; 

To  these  as  well  was  Thjazi  kin, 

The  dark-loving  giant;  his  daughter  was  Skathi. 

33.  Much  have  I  told  thee,  and  further  will  tell; 

There  is  much  that  I  know; —  wilt  thou  hear 

yet  more? 

34.  Heith  and  Hrossthjof,  the  children  of  Hrimnir. 


are  various  references  to  the  “twelve”  gods  (including  Baldr)  ; 
Snorri  (G yl fa ginning ,  20-33)  lists  the  following  twelve  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  Othin:  Thor,  Baldr,  Njorth,  Freyr,  Tyr,  Bragi,  Heimdall, 
Hoth,  Vithar,  Vali,  Ull  and  Forseti;  he  adds  Loki  as  of  doubtful 
divinity.  Baldr  and  Vali:  cf.  Voluspo,  32-33. 

31.  The  fragmentary  stanzas  31-34  have  been  regrouped  in 
various  ways,  and  with  many  conjectures  as  to  omissions,  none 
of  which  are  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  The  order  here  is  as 
in  the  manuscript,  except  that  lines  1-2  of  stanza  28  have  been 
transposed  from  after  line  2  of  stanza  33.  Bur’s  heir:  Othin;  cf. 
Voluspo ,  4. 

.  r 

32.  Freyr,  Gerth,  Gymir:  cf.  Skirnismol.  Aurbotha:  a  giantess, 
mother  of  Gerth.  Thjazi  and  Skathi:  cf.  Lokasenna,  49,  and  Har- 
barthsljoth,  19. 

33.  Cf.  Voluspo,  44  and  27. 

34.  Heith  (“Witch”)  and  Hrossthjof  (“Horse-thief”)  :  the 
only  other  reference  to  the  giant  Hrimnir  ( Skirnismol ,  28)  makes 
no  mention  of  his  children. 


[  228  ] 


Hyndluljoth 

35.  The  sybils  arose  from  Vitholf’s  race, 

From  Vilmeith  all  the  seers  are, 

And  the  workers  of  charms  are  Svarthofthi’s  chil¬ 
dren, 

And  from  Ymir  sprang  the  giants  all. 

36.  Much  have  I  told  thee,  and  further  will  tell; 
There  is  much  that  I  know; —  wilt  thou  hear 

yet  more? 

37.  One  there  was  born  in  the  bygone  days, 

Of  the  race  of  the  gods,  and  great  was  his  might ; 
Nine  giant  women,  at  the  world’s  edge, 

Once  bore  the  man  so  mighty  in  arms. 

38.  Gjolp  there  bore  him,  Greip  there  bore  him, 
Eistla  bore  him,  and  Eyrgjafa, 

Ulfrun  bore  him,  and  Angeyja, 

Imth  and  Atla,  and  Jarnsaxa. 


35.  This  stanza  is  quoted  by  Snorri  ( Gylfaginning ,  5).  Of 
V  it  ho  If  (“Forest  Wolf”),  Vilmeith  (“Wish-Tree”)  and  Svart- 
hofthi  (“Black  Head”)  nothing  further  is  known.  Ymir:  cf. 
Voluspo,  3. 

37.  According  to  Snorri  ( Gylfaginning ,  27)  Heimdall  was 
the  son  of  Othin  and  of  nine  sisters.  As  Heimdall  was  the  watch¬ 
man  of  the  gods,  this  has  given  rise  to  much  “solar  myth”  dis¬ 
cussion.  The  names  of  his  nine  giantess  mothers  are  frequently 
said  to  denote  attributes  of  the  sea. 

38.  The  names  of  Heimdall’s  mothers  may  be  rendered 
“Yelper,”  “Griper,”  “Foamer,”  “Sand-Strewer,”  “She-Wolf,” 
“Sorrow-Whelmer,”  “Dusk,”  “Fury,”  and  “Iron-Sword.” 

[  229  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


39.  Strong  was  he  made  with  the  strength  of  earth, 

With  the  ice-cold  sea,  and  the  blood  of  swine. 

40.  One  there  was  born,  the  best  of  all, 

And  strong  was  he  made  with  the  strength  of 
earth ; 

The  proudest  is  called  the  kinsman  of  men 
Of  the  rulers  all  throughout  the  world. 

41.  Much  have  I  told  thee,  and  further  will  tell; 

There  is  much  that  I  know ; —  wilt  thou  hear 

yet  more? 

42.  The  wolf  did  Loki  with  Angrbotha  win, 

And  Sleipnir  bore  he  to  Svathilfari ; 

The  worst  of  marvels  seemed  the  one 

That  sprang  from  the  brother  of  Byleist  then. 


39.  It  has  been  suggested  that  these  lines  were  interpolated 
from  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  22.  Some  editors  add  the  refrain  of 
stanza  36.  Swine’s  blood:  to  HeimdalPs  strength  drawn  from 
earth  and  sea  was  added  that  derived  from  sacrifice. 

40.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  stands  after  stanza  44.  Re¬ 
garding  Heimdall’s  kinship  to  the  three  great  classes  of  men,  cf. 
Rigsthula,  introductory  note,  wherein  the  apparent  confusion  of 
his  attributes  with  those  of  Othin  is  discussed. 

42.  Probably  a  lacuna  before  this  stanza.  Regarding  the  wolf 
Fenrir,  born  of  Loki  and  the  giantess  Angrbotha,  cf.  Voluspo, 
39  and  note.  Sleipnir:  Othin’s  eight-legged  horse,  born  of  the 
stallion  Svathilfari  and  of  Loki  in  the  guise  of  a  mare  (cf. 
Grimnismol,  44).  The  worst:  doubtless  referring  to  Mithgarths- 
orm,  another  child  of  Loki.  The  brother  of  Byleist:  Loki;  cf. 
V oluspo,  51. 


[  230  ] 


Hyndluljoth 


43.  A  heart  ate  Loki, —  in  the  embers  it  lay, 

And  half-cooked  found  he  the  woman’s  heart; — 
With  child  from  the  woman  Lopt  soon  was, 
And  thence  among  men  came  the  monsters  all. 


44.  The  sea,  storm-driven, 
O’er  the  earth  it  flows, 
Then  follow  the  snows 
For  the  gods  are  doomed, 


seeks  heaven  itself, 
the  air  grows  sterile; 
and  the  furious  winds, 
and  the  end  is  death. 


45.  Then  comes  another,  a  greater  than  all, 

Though  never  I  dare  his  name  to  speak ; 

Few  are  they  now  that  farther  can  see 
Than  the  moment  when  Othin  shall  meet  the 
wolf. 

*  #  * 


Frey j  a  spake: 

“To  my  boar  now  bring  the  memory-beer, 

So  that  all  thy  words,  that  well  thou  hast  spoken, 


43.  Nothing  further  is  known  of  the  myth  here  referred  to, 
wherein  Loki  (Lopt)  eats  the  cooked  heart  of  a  woman  and  thus 
himself  gives  birth  to  a  monster.  The  reference  is  not  likely  to  be 
to  the  serpent,  as,  according  to  Snorri  (G y If a ginning ,  34),  the 
wolf,  the  serpent,  and  Hel  were  all  the  children  of  Loki  and 
Angrbotha. 

44.  Probably  an  omission,  perhaps  of  considerable  length, 
before  this  stanza.  For  the  description  of  the  destruction  of  the 
world,  cf.  Voluspo,  57. 

45.  Cf.  Voluspo,  65,  where  the  possible  reference  to  Chris¬ 
tianity  is  noted.  With  this  stanza  the  fragmentary  “short  Voluspo ” 
ends,  and  the  dialogue  between  Freyja  and  Hyndla  continues. 

46.  Freyja  now  admits  the  identity  of  her  boar  as  Ottar,  who 

[231] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  third  morn  hence  he  may  hold  in  mind, 
When  their  races  Ottar  and  Angantyr  tell.” 


Hyndla  spake: 

47.  “Hence  shalt  thou  fare,  for  fain  would  I  sleep, 
From  me  thou  gettest  few  favors  good; 

My  noble  one,  out  in  the  night  thou  leapest 
As  Heithrun  goes  the  goats  among. 

48.  “To  Oth  didst  thou  run,  who  loved  thee  ever, 
And  many  under  thy  apron  have  crawled ; 

My  noble  one,  out  in  the  night  thou  leapest, 

As  Heithrun  goes  the  goats  among.” 

Frey j a  spake: 

49.  “Around  the  giantess  flames  shall  I  raise, 

So  that  forth  unburned  thou  mayst  not  fare.” 


with  the  help  of  the  “memory-beer”  is  to  recall  the  entire  gene¬ 
alogy  he  has  just  heard,  and  thus  win  his  wager  with  Angantyr. 

47.  Heithrun:  the  she-goat  that  stands  by  Valhall  (cf.  Grim- 

Tiismol,  25),  the  name  being  here  used  simply  of  she-goats  in 
general,  in  caustic  comment  on  Freyja’s  morals.  Of  these  Loki 
entertained  a  similar  view;  cf.  Lokasenna,  30.  1 

48.  Oth:  cf.  stanza  6  and  note,  and  Voluspo,  25  and  note. 
Lines  3-4,  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript,  are  very  likely  repeated 
here  by  mistake. 

49.  The  manuscript  repeats  once  again  lines  3-4  of  stanza  47 
as  the  last  two  lines  of  this  stanza.  It  seems  probable  that  two 
lines  have  been  lost,  to  the  effect  that  Freyja  will  burn  the 
giantess  alive  “If  swiftly  now  thou  dost  not  seek,  /  And 
hither  bring  the  memory-beer.” 

[232  ] 


Hyndluljoth 

Hyjidla  spake: 

50.  “Flames  I  see  burning,  the  earth  is  on  fire, 
And  each  for  his  life  the  price  must  lose; 
Bring  then  to  Ottar  the  draught  of  beer, 
Of  venom  full  for  an  evil  fate.” 

Freyja  spake : 

51.  “Thine  evil  words  shall  work  no  ill, 
Though,  giantess,  bitter  thy  baleful  threats; 

A  drink  full  fair  shall  Ottar  find, 

If  of  all  the  gods  the  favor  I  get.” 


[233] 


SVIPDAGSMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Svipdag 

Introductory  Note 

The  two  poems,  Grougaldr  ( Groa’s  Spell)  and  Fjolsvinnsmol 
(the  Ballad  of  Fjolsvith),  which  many  editors  have,  very  wisely, 
united  under  the  single  title  of  Svipdagsmol,  are  found  only  in 
paper  manuscripts,  none  of  them  antedating  the  seventeenth  cen¬ 
tury.  Everything  points  to  a  relatively  late  origin  for  the  poems: 
their  extensive  use  of  “kennings”  or  poetical  circumlocutions,  their 
romantic  spirit,  quite  foreign  to  the  character  of  the  unquestion¬ 
ably  older  poems,  the  absence  of  any  reference  to  them  in  the 
earlier  documents,  the  frequent  errors  in  mythology,  and,  finally, 
the  fact  that  the  poems  appear  to  have  been  preserved  in  unusu¬ 
ally  good  condition.  Whether  or  not  a 'connecting  link  of  narra¬ 
tive  verse  joining  the  two  parts  has  been  lost  is  an  open  question ; 
on  the  whole  it  seems  likely  that  the  story  was  sufficiently  well 
known  so  that  the  reciter  of  the  poem  (or  poems)  merely  filled 
in  the  gap  with  a  brief  prose  summary  in  pretty  much  his 
own  words.  The  general  relationship  between  dialogue  and 
narrative  in  the  Eddie  poems  is  discussed  in  the  introductory 
note  to  the  Grimnismol,  in  connection  with  the  use  of  prose 
links. 

The  love  story  of  Svipdag  and  Mengloth  is  not  referred  to 
elsewhere  in  the  Poetic  Edda,  nor  does  Snorri  mention  it;  how¬ 
ever,  Groa,  who  here  appears  as  Svipdag’s  mother,  is  spoken  of 
by  Snorri  as  a  wise  woman,  the  wife  of  Orvandil,  who  helps 
Thor  with  her  magic  charms.  On  the  other  hand,  the  essence  of 
the  story,  the  hero’s  winning  of  a  bride  ringed  about  by  flames, 
is  strongly  suggestive  of  parts  of  the  Sigurth-Brynhild  traditions. 
Whether  or  not  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  nature  or  solar  myth 
depends  entirely  on  one’s  view  of  the  whole  “solar  myth”  school 
of  criticism,  not  so  highly  esteemed  today  as  formerly;  such  an 
interpretation  is  certainly  not  necessary  to  explain  what  is,  under 
any  circumstances,  a  very  charming  romance  told,  in  the  main, 
with  dramatic  effectiveness. 

In  later  years  the  story  of  Svipdag  and  Mengloth  became  pop¬ 
ular  throughout  the  North,  and  was  made  the  subject  of  many 
Danish  and  Swedish  as  well  as  Norwegian  ballads.  These  have 
greatly  assisted  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  outlines  of  the  narra¬ 
tive  surrounding  the  dialogue  poems  here  given. 

[  234  ] 


Svipdagsmol 

I.  GROUGALDR 
Groa's  Spell 
Svipdag  spake : 

1.  “Wake  thee,  Groa!  wake,  mother  good! 

At  the  doors  of  the  dead  I  call  thee; 

Thy  son,  bethink  thee,  thou  badst  to  seek 
Thy  help  at  the  hill  of  death.” 

Groa  spake: 

2.  “What  evil  vexes  mine  only  son, 

What  baleful  fate  hast  thou  found, 

That  thou  callest  thy  mother,  who  lies  in  the 
mould, 

And  the  world  of  the  living  has  left?” 

Svipdag  spake: 

3.  “The  woman  false  whom  my  father  embraced 

Has  brought  me  a  baleful  game; 

For  she  bade  me  go  forth  where  none  may  fare, 
And  Mengloth  the  maid  to  seek.” 

Groa  spake: 

4.  “Long  is  the  way,  long  must  thou  wander, 

But  long  is  love  as  well; 

Thou  mayst  find,  perchance,  what  thou  fain 
wouldst  have, 

If  the  fates  their  favor  will  give.” 


1.  Svipdag  (“Swift  Day”)  :  the  names  of  the  speakers  are 
lacking  in  the  manuscripts. 

3.  The  woman:  Svipdag’s  stepmother,  who  is  responsible  for 

[  235  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Svipdag  spake: 

5.  “Charms  full  good  then  chant  to  me,  mother, 

And  seek  thy  son  to  guard; 

For  death  do  I  fear  on  the  way  I  shall  fare, 

And  in  years  am  I  young,  methinks.” 

Groa  spake : 

6.  “Then  first  I  will  chant  thee  the  charm  oft-tried, 

That  Rani  taught  to  Rind ; 

From  the  shoulder  whate’er  mislikes  thee  shake, 
For  helper  thyself  shalt  thou  have. 

7.  “Then  next  I  will  chant  thee,  if  needs  thou  must 

travel, 

And  wander  a  purposeless  way: 

The  bolts  of  Urth  shall  on  every  side 
Be  thy  guards  on  the  road  thou  goest. 

8.  “Then  third  I  will  chant  thee,  if  threatening 

streams 

The  danger  of  death  shall  bring: 


his  search  for  Mengloth  (“Necklace-Glad”).  This  name  has  sug¬ 
gested  that  Mengloth  is  really  Frigg,  possessor  of  the  famous 
Brisings’  necklace,  or  else  Freyja  (cf.  Lokasenna,  20,  note). 

6.  For  this  catalogue  of  charms  (stanzas  6-14)  cf.  the  Ljotha- 
tal  (Hovamol,  147-165).  Rani  and  Rind:  the  manuscripts  have 
these  words  in  inverse  relation;  I  have  followed  Neckel’s  emen¬ 
dation.  Rind  was  the  giantess  who  became  the  mother  of  Vali, 
Othin’s  son,  the  one-night-old  avenger  of  Baldr  (cf.  Voluspo, 
33-34,  and  Baldr s  Dranmar,  11  and  note).  Rani  is  presumably 
Othin,  who,  according  to  a  skaldic  poem,  won  Rind  by  magic. 

7.  Urth:  one  of  the  three  Norns,  or  Fates;  cf.  Voluspo,  20. 

[  236] 


Svipdagsmol 

Yet  to  Hel  shall  turn  both  Horn  and  Ruth, 

And  before  thee  the  waters  shall  fail. 

9.  “Then  fourth  I  will  chant  thee,  if  come  thy  foes 
On  the  gallows-way  against  thee: 

Into  thine  hands  shall  their  hearts  be  given, 

And  peace  shall  the  warriors  wish. 

10.  “Then  fifth  I  will  chant  thee,  if  fetters  perchance 

Shall  bind  thy  bending  limbs: 

O’er  thy  thighs  do  I  chant  a  loosening-charm, 
And  the  lock  is  burst  from  the  limbs, 

And  the  fetters  fall  from  the  feet. 

11.  “Then  sixth  I  will  chant  thee,  if  storms  on  the  sea 

Have  might  unknown  to  man : 

Yet  never  shall  wind  or  wave  do  harm, 

And  calm  is  the  course  of  thy  boat. 

12.  “Then  seventh  I  chant  thee,  if  frost  shall  seek 

To  kill  thee  on  lofty  crags: 

The  fatal  cold  shall  not  grip  thy  flesh, 

And  whole  thy  body  shall  be. 


8.  Horn  and  Ruth:  these  two  rivers,  here  used  merely  to  sym¬ 
bolize  all  dangerous  streams,  are  not  included  in  the  catalogue 
of  rivers  given  in  Grimnismol,  27-29,  for  which  reason  some 
editors  have  changed  the  names  to  Hron  and  Hrith. 

10.  This  stanza  is  a  close  parallel  to  Hovamol,  150,  and  the 
fifth  line  may  well  be  an  interpolation  from  line  4  of  that  stanza. 

[  237  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


13.  “Then  eighth  will  I  chant  thee,  if  ever  by  night 

Thou  shalt  wander  on  murky  ways: 

Yet  never  the  curse  of  a  Christian  woman 
From  the  dead  shall  do  thee  harm. 

14.  “Then  ninth  will  I  chant  thee,  if  needs  thou  must 

strive 

With  a  warlike  giant  in  words: 

Thy  heart  good  store  of  wit  shall  have, 

And  thy  mouth  of  words  full  wise. 

15.  “Now  fare  on  the  way  where  danger  waits, 

Let  evils  not  lessen  thy  love! 

I  have  stood  at  the  door  of  the  earth-fixed  stones, 
The  while  I  chanted  thee  charms. 

16.  “Bear  hence,  my  son,  what  thy  mother  hath  said, 

And  let  it  live  in  thy  breast; 

Thine  ever  shall  be  the  best  of  fortune, 

So  long  as  my  words  shall  last.” 


13.  A  dead  Christian  ivoinan:  this  passage  has  distressed 
many  editors,  who  have  sought  to  emend  the  text  so  as  to  make 
it  mean  simply  “a  dead  witch.”  The  fact  seems  to  be,  however, 
that  this  particular  charm  was  composed  at  a  time  when  Chris¬ 
tians  were  regarded  by  all  conservative  pagans  as  emissaries  of 
darkness.  A  dead  woman’s  curse  would  naturally  be  more  potent, 
whether  she  was  Christian  or  otherwise,  than  a  living  one’s. 
Presumably  this  charm  is  much  older  than  the  poem  in  which  it 
here  stands. 

16.  At  this  point  Groa’s  song  ends,  and  Svipdag,  thus  fortified, 
goes  to  seek  Mengloth.  All  the  link  that  is  needed  between  the 
poems  is  approximately  this:  “Then  Svipdag  searched  long  for 

[  238  ] 


Svipdagsmol 

II.  FJOLSVINNSMOL 

The  Lay  of  Fjolsvith 

17.  Before  the  house  he  beheld  one  coming 

To  the  home  of  the  giants  high. 

Svipdag  spake: 

“What  giant  is  here,  in  front  of  the  house, 

And  around  him  fires  are  flaming?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

18.  “What  seekest  thou  here?  for  what  is  thy  search? 

What,  friendless  one,  fain  wouldst  thou  know? 

By  the  ways  so  wet  must  thou  wander  hence, 
For,  weakling,  no  home  hast  thou  here.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

19.  “What  giant  is  here,  in  front  of  the  house, 

To  the  wayfarer  welcome  denying?” 


Mengloth,  and  at  last  he  came  to  a  great  house  set  all  about 
with  flames.  And  before  the  house  there  was  a  giant.” 

17.  Most  editors  have  here  begun  a  new  series  of  stanza 
numbers,  but  if  the  Grougaldr  and  the  Fjolsvinnsmol  are  to  be 
considered  as  a  single  poem,  it  seems  more  reasonable  to  continue 
the  stanza  numbers  consecutively.  Bugge  thinks  a  stanza  has 
been  lost  before  17,  including  Fjolsvith’s  name,  so  that  the  “he” 
in  line  1  might  have  something  to  refer  to.  However,  just  such  a 
prose  link  as  I  have  suggested  in  the  note  on  stanza  16  would 
serve  the  purpose.  Editors  have  suggested  various  rearrange¬ 
ments  in  the  lines  of  stanzas  17-19.  The  substance,  however,  is 
clear  enough.  The  giant  Fjolsvith  (“Much-Wise”),  the  warder 
of  the  house  in  which  Mengloth  dwells,  sees  Svipdag  coming  and 
stops  him  with  the  customary  threats.  The  assignment  of  the 

[  239  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Fjolsvith  spake: 

“Greeting  full  fair  thou  never  shalt  find, 

So  hence  shalt  thou  get  thee  home. 

20.  “Fjolsvith  am  I,  and  wise  am  I  found, 

But  miserly  am  I  with  meat; 

Thou  never  shalt  enter  within  the  house, — 

Go  forth  like  a  wolf  on  thy  way!” 

Svipdag  spake: 

21.  “Few  from  the  joy  of  their  eyes  will  go  forth, 

When  the  sight  of  their  loves  they  seek ; 

Full  bright  are  the  gates  of  the  golden  hall, 
And  a  home  shall  I  here  enjoy.” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

22.  “Tell  me  now,  fellow,  what  father  thou  hast, 

And  the  kindred  of  whom  thou  camst.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

“Vindkald  am  I,  and  Varkald’s  son, 

And  Fjolkald  his  father  was. 

23.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 


speeches  in  stanzas  17-20,  in  the  absence  of  any  indications  in 
the  manuscripts,  is  more  or  less  guesswork. 

22.  Vindkald  (“Wind-Cold”),  Varkald  (“Cold  of  Early 
Spring”)  and  Fjolkald  (“Much  Cold”)  :  Svipdag  apparently 
seeks  to  persuade  Fjolsvith  that  he  belongs  to  the  frost  giants. 

[  240  ] 


Svipdagsmol 

Who  is  it  that  holds  and  has  for  his  own 
The  rule  of  the  hall  so  rich?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

24.  “Mengloth  is  she,  her  mother  bore  her 

To  the  son  of  Svaf  rthorin ; 

She  is  it  that  holds  and  has  for  her  own 
The  rule  of  the  hall  so  rich.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

25.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  call  they  the  gate?  for  among  the  gods 
Ne’er  saw  man  so  grim  a  sight.” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

26.  “Thrymgjol  they  call  it ;  ’twas  made  by  the  three, 

The  sons  of  Solblindi ; 

And  fast  as  a  fetter  the  farer  it  holds, 

Whoever  shall  lift  the  latch.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

27.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 


24.  Svafrthorin:  who  he  was,  or  what  his  name  means,  or 
who  his  son  was,  are  all  unknown. 

26.  Thrymgjol  (“Loud-Clanging”)  :  this  gate,  like  the  gate  of 
the  dead,  shuts  so  fast  as  to  trap  those  who  attempt  to  use  it  (cf. 
Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  68  and  note).  It  was  made  by  the 
dwarfs,  sons  of  Solblindi  (“Sun-Blinded”),  the  traditional  crafts¬ 
men,  who  could  not  endure  the  light  of  day. 

[241] 


Poetic  Edda 


What  call  they  the  house  ?  for  no  man  beheld 
’Mongst  the  gods  so  grim  a  sight.” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

28.  “Gastropnir  is  it,  of  old  I  made  it 

From  the  limbs  of  Leirbrimir; 

I  braced  it  so  strongly  that  fast  it  shall  stand 
So  long  as  the  world  shall  last.” 

Svipdag  spake : 

29.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  call  they  the  tree  that  casts  abroad 
Its  limbs  o’er  every  land?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

30.  “Mimameith  its  name,  and  no  man  knows 

What  root  beneath  it  runs; 

And  few  can  guess  what  shall  fell  the  tree, 

For  fire  nor  iron  shall  fell  it.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

31.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 


28.  Gastropnir :  “Guest-Crusher.”  Leirbrimir’ s  (“Clay- 
Giant’s”)  limbs:  a  poetic  circumlocution  for  “clay”;  cf.  the  de¬ 
scription  of  the  making  of  earth  from  the  body  of  the  giant  Ymir, 
V afthruthnismol,  21. 

30.  Mimameith  (“Mimir’s  Tree”)  :  the  ash  Yggdrasil,  that 
overshadows  the  whole  world.  The  well  of  Mimir  was  situated 
at  its  base;  cf.  Voluspo,  27-29. 

[  242  ] 


Svipdagsmol 

What  grows  from  the  seed  of  the  tree  so  great, 
That  fire  nor  iron  shall  fell?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

32.  “Women,  sick  with  child,  shall  seek 

Its  fruit  to  the  flames  to  bear; 

Then  out  shall  come  what  within  was  hid, 

And  so  is  it  mighty  with  men.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

33.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  cock  is  he  on  the  highest  bough, 

That  glitters  all  with  gold?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

34.  “Vithofnir  his  name,  and  now  he  shines 

Like  lightning  on  Mimameith’s  limbs ; 

And  great  is  the  trouble  with  which  he  grieves 
Both  Surt  and  Sinmora.” 


32.  Gering  suggests  that  two  stanzas  have  been  lost  between 
stanzas  15  and  16,  but  the  giant’s  answer  fits  the  question  quite 
well  enough.  The  fruit  of  Yggdrasil,  when  cooked,  is  here 
assumed  to  have  the  power  of  assuring  safe  childbirth. 

34.  Vithofnir  (“Tree-Snake”)  :  apparently  identical  with 
either  the  cock  Gollinkambi  (cf.  Voluspo ,  43)  or  Fjalar  (cf. 
Voluspo,  42),  the  former  of  which  wakes  the  gods  to  battle,  and 
the  latter  the  giants.  Surt:  the  giant  mentioned  in  Voluspo,  52, 
as  ruler  of  the  fire-world;  here  used  to  represent  the  giants  in 
general,  who  are  constantly  in  terror  of  the  cock’s  eternal  watch¬ 
fulness.  Sinmora:  presumably  Surt’s  wife,  the  giantess  who  pos¬ 
sesses  the  weapon  by  which  alone  the  cock  Vithofnir  may  be  slain. 

[  243  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Svipdag  spake: 

35.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  call  they  the  hounds,  that  before  the  house 
So  fierce  and  angry  are?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

36.  “Gif  call  they  one,  and  Geri  the  other, 

If  now  the  truth  thou  wouldst  know; 

Great  they  are,  and  their  might  will  grow, 

Till  the  gods  to  death  are  doomed.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

37.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

May  no  man  hope  the  house  to  enter, 

While  the  hungry  hounds  are  sleeping?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

38.  “Together  they  sleep  not,  for  so  was  it  fixed 

When  the  guard  to  them  was  given  ; 

One  sleeps  by  night,  the  next  by  day, 

So  no  man  may  enter  ever.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

39.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 


35.  The  last  two  lines  have  been  variously  emended. 

36.  Gif  and  Geri:  both  names  signify  “Greedy.”  The  first 
part  of  line  3  is  conjectural;  the  manuscripts  indicate  the  word 
“eleven,”  which  clearly  fails  to  make  sense. 

[  244  ] 


Svipdagsmol 

Is  there  no  meat  that  men  may  give  them, 

And  leap  within  while  they  eat?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

40.  “Two  wing-joints  there  be  in  Vithofnir’s  body, 

If  now  the  truth  thou  wouldst  know; 

That  alone  is  the  meat  that  men  may  give  them, 
And  leap  within  while  they  eat.” 

Svipdag  spake : 

41.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  weapon  can  send  Vithofnir  to  seek 
The  house  of  Hel  below?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

42.  “Lævatein  is  there,  that  Lopt  with  runes 

Once  made  by  the  doors  of  death ; 

In  Lægjarn’s  chest  by  Sinmora  lies  it, 

And  nine  locks  fasten  it  firm.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

43.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

May  a  man  come  thence  who  thither  goes, 

And  tries  the  sword  to  take?” 


42.  Lœvctein  (“Wounding  Wand”)  :  the  manuscripts  differ  as 
to  the  form  of  this  name.  The  suggestion  that  the  reference  is  to 
the  mistletoe  with  which  Baldr  was  killed  seems  hardly  reason¬ 
able.  Lopt:  Loki.  Lœgjarn  (“Lover  of  Ill”)  :  Loki;  cf.  Voluspo,  35, 

[  245  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Fjolsvith  spake: 

44.  “Thence  may  he  come  who  thither  goes, 

And  tries  the  sword  to  take, 

If  with  him  he  carries  what  few  can  win, 

To  give  to  the  goddess  of  gold.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

45.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  treasure  is  there  that  men  may  take 
To  rejoice  the  giantess  pale?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

46.  “The  sickle  bright  in  thy  wallet  bear, 

Mid  Vithofnir’s  feathers  found; 

To  Sinmora  give  it,  and  then  shall  she  grant 
That  the  weapon  by  thee  be  won.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

47.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  call  they  the  hall,  encompassed  here 
With  flickering  magic  flames?” 


where  the  term  appears  as  an  adjective  applied  to  Loki.  This  is 
Falk’s  emendation  for  the  manuscripts’  “Sægjarn,”  meaning  “Sea 
Lover.”  Sinmora:  cf.  stanza  34. 

44  Goddess  of  gold:  poetic  circumlocution  for  “woman,” 
here  meaning  Sinmora. 

46.  Sickle:  i.e.,  tail  feather.  With  this  the  circle  of  impossi¬ 
bilities  is  completed.  To  get  past  the  dogs,  they  must  be  fed  with 
the  wing-joints  of  the  cock  Vithofnir;  the  cock  can  be  killed  only 

[246] 


Svipdagsmol 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

48.  “Lyr  is  it  called.  and  long  it  shall 

On  the  tip  of  a  spear-point  tremble ; 

Of  the  noble  house  mankind  has  heard, 

But  more  has  it  never  known.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

49.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  one  of  the  gods  has  made  so  great 
The  hall  I  behold  within?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

50.  “Uni  and  Iri,  Bari  and  Jari, 

Var  and  Vegdrasil, 

Dori  and  Ori,  Delling,  and  there 
Was  Loki,  the  fear  of  the  folk.” 


•with  the  sword  in  Sinmora’s  possession,  and  Sinmora  will  give  up 
the  sword  only  in  return  for  the  tail  feather  of  the  cock. 

48.  Lyr  (“Heat-Holding”)  :  just  what  the  spear-point  refer¬ 
ence  means  is  not  altogether  clear.  Presumably  it  refers  to  the 
way  in  which  the  glowing  brightness  of  the  lofty  hall  makes  it 
seem  to  quiver  and  turn  in  the  air,  but  the  tradition,  never 
baffled  by  physical  laws,  may  have  actually  balanced  the  whole 
building  on  a  single  point  to  add  to  the  difficulties  of  entrance. 

50.  Loki,  the  one  god  named,  was  the  builder  of  the  hall,  with 
the  aid  of  the  nine  dwarfs.  Jari,  Dori,  and  Ori  appear  in  the 
Voluspo  catalogue  of  the  dwarfs  (stanzas  13  and  15)  ;  Delling 
appears  in  Hovamol,  161,  and  V afthruthnismol,  25,  in  the  latter 
case,  however,  the  name  quite  possibly  referring  to  some  one 
else.  The  other  dwarfs’  names  do  not  appear  elsewhere.  The 
manuscripts  differ  as  to  the  forms  of  many  of  these  names. 

[247] 


Poetic  Edda 


Svipdag  spake: 

51.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  call  they  the  mountain  on  which  the  maid 
Is  lying  so  lovely  to  see?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

52.  “Lyfjaberg  is  it,  and  long  shall  it  be 

A  joy  to  the  sick  and  the  sore; 

For  well  shall  grow  each  woman  who  climbs  it, 
Though  sick  full  long  she  has  lain.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

53.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

What  maidens  are  they  that  at  Mengloth’s  knees 
Are  sitting  so  gladly  together?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

54.  “Hlif  is  one  named,  Hlifthrasa  another, 

Thjothvara  call  they  the  third; 


52.  Lyfjaberg  (“Hill  of  Healing”)  :  the  manuscripts  vary  as 
to  this  name;  I  have  followed  Bugge’s  suggestion.  This  stanza 
implies  that  Mengloth  is  a  goddess  of  healing,  and  hence,  per¬ 
haps,  an  hypostasis  of  Frigg,  as  already  intimated  by  her  name 
(cf.  stanza  3,  note).  In  stanza  54  Eir  appears  as  one  of  Mengloth’s 
handmaidens,  and  Eir,  according  to  Snorri  (G y If a ginning ,  35) 
is  herself  the  Norse  Hygeia.  Compare  this  stanza  with  stanza  32. 

54.  The  manuscripts  and  editions  show  many  variations  in 
these  names.  They  may  be  approximately  rendered  thus:  Helper, 
Help-Breather,  Folk-Guardian,  Shining,  White,  Blithe,  Peaceful, 
Kindly  (?),  and  Gold-Giver. 

[248] 


Svipdagsmol 

Bjort  and  Bleik,  Blith  and  Frith, 

Eir  and  Aurbotha.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

55.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

Aid  bring  they  to  all  who  offerings  give, 

If  need  be  found  therefor ?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

56.  “Soon  aid  they  all  who  offerings  give 

On  the  holy  altars  high  ; 

And  if  danger  they  see  for  the  sons  of  men, 

Then  each  from  ill  do  they  guard.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

57.  “Now  answer  me,  Fjolsvith,  the  question  I  ask, 

For  now  the  truth  would  I  know: 

Lives  there  the  man  who  in  Mengloth’s  arms 
So  fair  may  seek  to  sleep?” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

58.  “No  man  there  is  who  in  Mengloth’s  arms 

So  fair  may  seek  to  sleep, 

Save  Svipdag  alone,  for  the  sun-bright  maid 
Is  destined  his  bride  to  be.” 


55.  One  of  the  manuscripts  omits  stanzas  55  and  56. 

56.  The  first  line  is  based  on  a  conjectural  emendation. 

[  249  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Svipdag  spake: 

59-  “  Fling  back  the  gates!  make  the  gateway  wide! 
Here  maj^st  thou  Svipdag  see ! 

Hence  get  thee  to  find  if  gladness  soon 
Mengloth  to  me  will  give.” 

Fjolsvith  spake: 

60.  “Hearken,  Mengloth,  a  man  is  come; 

Go  thou  the  guest  to  see! 

The  hounds  are  fawning,  the  house  bursts 
open, — 

Svipdag,  methinks,  is  there.” 

Mengloth  spake: 

61.  “On  the  gallows  high  shall  hungry  ravens 

Soon  thine  eyes  pluck  out, 

If  thou  liest  in  saying  that  here  at  last 
The  hero  is  come  to  my  hall. 

62.  “Whence  earnest  thou  hither?  how  earnest  thou 

here  ? 

What  name  do  thy  kinsmen  call  thee? 

Thy  race  and  thy  name  as  a  sign  must  I  know, 
That  thy  bride  I  am  destined  to  be.” 

Svipdag  spake: 

63.  “Svipdag  am  I,  and  Solbjart’s  son; 

Thence  came  I  by  wind-cold  ways; 


63.  Solbjart  (‘‘Sun-Bright”)  :  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  The 
words  of  Urth:  i.e.,  the  decrees  of  fate;  cf.  stanza  7. 


[  250  j 


Svipdagsmol 

With  the  words  of  Urth  shall  no  man  war, 
Though  unearned  her  gifts  be  given. ” 

Mengloth  spake: 

64.  “Welcome  thou  art,  for  long  have  I  waited; 

The  welcoming  kiss  shalt  thou  win ! 

For  two  who  love  is  the  longed-for  meeting 
The  greatest  gladness  of  all. 

65.  “Long  have  I  sat  on  Lyfjaberg  here, 

Awaiting  thee  day  by  day ; 

And  now  I  have  what  I  ever  hoped, 

For  here  thou  art  come  to  my  hall. 

66.  “Alike  we  yearned;  I  longed  for  thee, 

And  thou  for  my  love  hast  longed ; 

But  now  henceforth  together  we  know 
Our  lives  to  the  end  we  shall  live.” 


65.  Lyfjaberg  cf.  stanza  52  and  note. 


[251] 


I 

_ 


' 


, 


THE  POETIC  EDDA 


VOLUME  II 


LAYS  OF  THE  HEROES 


VOLUNDARKVITHA 

The  Lay  of  Völund 

Introductory  Note 

Between  the  Thrymskvitha  and  the  Alvissmol  in  the  Codex 
Regius  stands  the  Völundarkvitha.  It  was  also  included  in  the 
Arnamagnœan  Codex,  but  unluckily  it  begins  at  the  very  end  of 
the  fragment  which  has  been  preserved,  and  thus  only  a  few 
lines  of  the  opening  prose  remain.  This  is  doubly  regrettable 
because  the  text  in  Regius  is  unquestionably  in  very  bad  shape, 
and  the  other  manuscript  would  doubtless  have  been  of  great 
assistance  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  poem. 

There  has  been  a  vast  amount  written  regarding  the  Weland 
tradition  as  a  whole,  discussing  particularly  the  relations  between 
the  V'ólundarkvitha  and  the  Weland  passage  in  Deor’s  Lament. 
There  can  be  little  question  that  the  story  came  to  the  North 
from  Saxon  regions,  along  with  many  of  the  other  early  hero 
tales.  In  stanza  16  the  Rhine  is  specifically  mentioned  as  the 
home  of  treasure;  and  the  presence  of  the  story  in  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry  probably  as  early  as  the  first  part  of  the  eighth  century 
proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  legend  cannot  have  been  a  native 
product  of  Scandinavia.  In  one  form  or  another,  however,  the 
legend  of  the  smith  persisted  for  centuries  throughout  all  the 
Teutonic  lands,  and  the  name  of  Wayland  Smith  is  familiar  to 
all  readers  of  Walter  Scott,  and  even  of  Rudyard  Kipling’s  tales 
of  England. 

In  what  form  this  story  reached  the  North  is  uncertain.  Sun¬ 
dry  striking  parallels  between  the  diction  of  the  V olundarkvitha 
and  that  of  the  Weland  passage  in  Deor’s  Lament  make  it  dis¬ 
tinctly  probable  that  a  Saxon  song  on  this  subject  had  found  its 
way  to  Scandinavia  or  Iceland.  But  the  prose  introduction  to  the 
poem  mentions  the  “old  sagas”  in  which  Völund  was  celebrated, 
and  in  the  Thithrekssaga  we  have  definite  evidence  of  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  such  prose  narrative  in  the  form  of  the  V elentssaga 
(Velent,  Volund,  Weland,  and  Wayland  all  being,  of  course, 
identical),  which  gives  a  long  story  for  which  the  Völundarkvitha 
can  have  supplied  relatively  little,  if  any,  of  the  material.  It  is 
probable,  then,  that  Weland  stories  were  current  in  both  prose 
and  verse  in  Scandinavia  as  early  as  the  latter  part  of  the  ninth 
century. 


[  252  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


Once  let  a  figure  become  popular  in  oral  tradition,  and  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  incidents  connected  with  his  name 
will  increase  very  rapidly.  Doubtless  there  were  scores  of  Weland 
stories  current  in  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  centuries,  many 
of  them  with  very  little  if  any  traditional  authority.  The  main 
one,  however,  the  story  of  the  laming  of  the  smith  by  King 
Nithuth  (or  by  some  other  enemy)  and  of  Weland’s  terrible 
revenge,  forms  the  basis  of  the  Viilundark'vitha.  To  this,  by  way 
of  introduction,  has  been  added  the  story  of  Volund  and  the 
swan-maiden,  who,  to  make  things  even  more  complex,  is  likewise 
said  to  be  a  Valkyrie.  Some  critics  maintain  that  these  two  sections 
were  originally  two  distinct  poems,  merely  strung  together  by  the 
compiler  with  the  help  of  narrative  prose  links;  but  the  poem 
as  a  whole  has  a  kind  of  dramatic  unity  which  suggests  rather 
that  an  early  poet — for  linguistically  the  poem  belongs  among 
the  oldest  of  the  Eddie  collection — used  two  distinct  legends, 
whether  in  prose  or  verse,  as  the  basis  for  the  composition  of  a 
new  and  homogeneous  poem. 

The  swan-maiden  story  appears,  of  course,  in  many  places 
quite  distinct  from  the  Weland  tradition,  and,  in  another  form, 
became  one  of  the  most  popular  of  German  folk  tales.  Like 
the  story  of  Weland,  however,  it  is  of  German  rather  than 
Scandinavian  origin,  and  the  identification  of  the  swan-maidens 
as  Valkyries,  which  may  have  taken  place  before  the  legend 
reached  the  North,  may,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  simply 
an  attempt  to  connect  southern  tradition  with  figures  well  known 
in  northern  mythology. 

The  V ölundarkvitha  is  full  of  prose  narrative  links,  including 
an  introduction.  The  nature  of  such  prose  links  has  already 
been  discussed  in  the  introductory  note  to  the  Grimnismol ;  the 
Völundarkvitha  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  the 
function  of  the  earlier  Eddie  verse  was  limited  chiefly  to  dialogue 
or  description,  the  narrative  outline  being  provided,  if  at  all,  in 
prose.  This  prose  was  put  in  by  each  reciter  according  to  his 
fancy  and  knowledge,  and  his  estimate  of  his  hearers’  need  for 
such  explanations;  some  of  it,  as  in  this  instance,  eventually 
found  its  way  into  the  written  record. 

The  manuscript  of  the  Völundarkvitha  is  in  such  bad  shape, 
and  the  conjectural  emendations  have  been  so  numerous,  that 
in  the  notes  I  have  attempted  to  record  only  the  most  important 
of  them. 


[  253  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


There  was  a  king  in  Sweden  named  Nithuth.  He  had 
two  sons  and  one  daughter;  her  name  was  Bothvild. 
There  were  three  brothers,  sons  of  a  king  of  the  Finns: 
one  was  called  Slagfith,  another  Egil,  the  third  Volund. 
They  went  on  snowshoes  and  hunted  wild  beasts.  They 
came  into  Ulfdalir  and  there  they  built  themselves  a  house  ; 
there  was  a  lake  there  which  is  called  Ulfsjar.  Early  one 
morning  they  found  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  three  women, 
who  were  spinning  flax.  Near  them  were  their  swan- 
garments,  for  they  were  Valkyries.  Two  of  them  were 
daughters  of  King  Hlothver,  Hlathguth  the  Swan-White 
and  Hervor  the  All-Wise,  and  the  third  was  Olrun, 
daughter  of  Kjar  from  Valland.  These  did  they  bring 


Prose.  Nithuth  (“Bitter  Hater”)  :  here  identified  as  a  king  of 
Sweden,  is  in  the  poem  (stanzas  9,  15  and  32)  called  lord  of  the 
Njars,  which  may  refer  to  the  people  of  the  Swedish  district  of 
Nerike.  In  any  case,  the  scene  of  the  story  has  moved  from 
Saxon  lands  into  the  Northeast.  The  first  and  last  sentences  of 
the  introduction  refer  to  the  second  part  of  the  poem;  the  rest  of 
it  concerns  the  swan-maidens  episode.  Bothvild  (“Warlike 
Maid”)  :  Volund’s  victim  in  the  latter  part  of  the  poem.  King  of 
the  Finns:  this  notion,  clearly  later  than  the  poem,  which  calls 
Völund  an  elf,  may  perhaps  be  ascribed  to  the  annotator  who 
composed  the  prose  introduction.  The  Finns,  meaning  the  dwell¬ 
ers  in  Lapland,  were  generally  credited  with  magic  powers. 
Egil  appears  in  the  Thithrekssaga  as  Völund’s  brother,  but  Slag¬ 
fith  is  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  Ulfdalir  (“Wolf-Dale”),  Ulfsjar 
(“Wolf-Sea”),  Valland  (“Slaughter-Land”):  mythical  places 
without  historical  identification.  Valkyries :  cf.  Voluspo,  31  and 
note;  there  is  nothing  in  the  poem  to  identify  the  three  swan- 
maidens  as  Valkyries  except  one  obscure  word  in  line  2  of  stanza 
1  and  again  in  line  5  of  stanza  5,  which  may  mean,  as  Gering 
translates  it,  “helmed,”  or  else  “fair  and  wise.”  I  suspect  that 
the  annotator,  anxious  to  give  the  Saxon  legend  as  much  northern 
local  color  as  possible,  was  mistaken  in  his  mythology,  and  that 

[  254  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


home  to  their  hall  with  them.  Egil  took  Olrun,  and  Slag- 
fith  Swan- White,  and  Völund  All-Wise.  There  they 
dwelt  seven  winters;  but  then  they  flew  away  to  find  bat¬ 
tles,  and  came  back  no  more.  Then  Egil  set  forth  on  his 
snowshoes  to  follow  Olrun,  and  Slagfith  followed  Swan- 
White,  but  Völund  stayed  in  Ulfdalir.  He  was  a  most 
skillful  man,  as  men  know  from  old  tales.  King  Nithuth 
had  him  taken  by  force,  as  the  poem  here  tells. 

i.  Maids  from  the  south  through  Myrkwood  flew, 
Fair  and  young,  their  fate  to  follow; 

On  the  shore  of  the  sea  to  rest  them  they  sat, 

The  maids  of  the  south,  and  flax  they  spun. 


the  poet  never  conceived  of  his  swan-maidens  as  Valkyries  at  all. 
However,  this  identification  of  swan-maidens  with  Valkyries  was 
not  uncommon;  cf.  Helreith  Brynhildar ,  7.  The  three  maidens’ 
names,  Hlathguth,  Hervor,  and  Olrun,  do  not  appear  in  the  lists 
of  Valkyries.  King  Hlothver:  this  name  suggests  the  southern 
origin  of  the  story,  as  it  is  the  northern  form  of  Ludwig;  the 
name  appears  again  in  Guthrunark'vitha  II,  26,  and  that  of  Kjar 
is  found  in  Atlakvitha,  7,  both  of  these  poems  being  based  on 
German  stories.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  composer  of  this  intro¬ 
ductory  note  seems  to  have  had  little  or  no  information  beyond 
what  was  actually  contained  in  the  poem  as  it  has  come  down  to 
us;  he  refers  to  the  “old  stories”  about  Völund,  but  either  he  was 
unfamiliar  with  them  in  detail  or  else  he  thought  it  needless  to 
make  use  of  them.  His  note  simply  puts  in  clear  and  connected 
form  what  the  verse  tells  somewhat  obscurely;  his  only  addi¬ 
tions  are  making  Nithuth  a  king  of  Sweden  and  Völund’s  father 
a  king  of  the  Finns,  supplying  the  name  Ulfsjar  for  the  lake, 
identifying  the  swan-maidens  as  Valkyries,  and  giving  Kjar  a 
home  in  Valland. 

1.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza;  two  lines  may  have  been  lost  before  or  after  lines  1-2, 

[  255  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Hlathguth  and  Hervor,  Hlothver’s  children, 
And  Olrun  the  Wise  Kjar’s  daughter  was. 


3 . 

One  in  her  arms  took  Egil  then 

To  her  bosom  white,  the  woman  xair. 

4.  Swan-White  second, —  swan-feathers  she  wore, 

And  her  arms  the  third  of  the  sisters  threw 
Next  round  Volund’s  neck  so  white. 


5.  There  did  they  sit 
In  the  eighth  at  last 
(And  in  the  ninth 
The  maidens  yearned 
The  fair  young  maids, 


for  seven  winters, 
came  their  longing  again, 
did  need  divide  them), 
for  the  murky  wood, 
their  fate  to  follow. 


and  two  more,  or  even  six,  with  the  additional  stanza  describing 
the  theft  of  the  swan-garments,  after  line  4.  Myrkivood:  a  stock 
name  for  a  magic,  dark  forest;  cf.  Lokasenna,  42. 

2.  In  the  manuscript  these  two  lines  stand  after  stanza  16; 
editors  have  tried  to  fit  them  into  various  places,  but  the  prose 
indicates  that  they  belong  here,  with  a  gap  assumed. 

3.  In  the  manuscript  these  two  lines  follow  stanza  1,  with  no 
gap  indicated,  and  the  first  line  marked  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza.  Many  editors  have  combined  them  with  stanza  4. 

4.  No  lacuna  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  one  editor  fills  the 
stanza  out  with  a  second  line  running:  “Then  to  her  breast 
Slagfith  embraced.” 

5.  Line  3  looks  like  an  interpolation,  but  line  5,  identical  with 
line  2  of  stanza  1,  may  be  the  superfluous  one. 

[  256  j 


Völundarkvitha 


6.  Völund  home  from  his  hunting  came, 

From  a  weary  way,  the  weather-wise  bowman, 
Slagfith  and  Egil  the  hall  found  empty, 

Out  and  in  went  they,  everywhere  seeking. 

7.  East  fared  Egil  after  Olrun, 

And  Slagfith  south  to  seek  for  Swan-White ; 
Völund  alone  in  Ulfdalir  lay, 


8.  Red  gold  he  fashioned  with  fairest  gems, 

And  rings  he  strung  on  ropes  of  bast; 

So  for  his  wife  he  waited  long, 

If  the  fair  one  home  might  come  to  him. 

9.  This  Nithuth  learned,  the  lord  of  the  Njars, 
That  Volund  alone  in  Ulfdalir  lay; 


6.  The  phrase  “Volund  home  from  a  weary  way”  is  an  emen¬ 
dation  of  Bugge’s,  accepted  by  many  editors.  Some  of  those  who 
do  not  include  it  reject  line  4,  and  combine  the  remainder  of  the 
stanza  with  all  or  part  of  stanza  7. 

7.  The  manuscript  marks  the  second,  and  not  the  first,  line  as 
the  beginning  of  a  stanza.  Some  editors  combine  lines  2-3  with  all 
or  part  of  stanza  8.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but 
many  editors  have  assumed  one,  some  of  them  accepting  Bugge’s 
suggested  “Till  back  the  maiden  bright  should  come.” 

8.  No  line  in  this  stanza  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript  as  be¬ 
ginning  a  new  stanza ;  editors  have  tried  all  sorts  of  experiments 
in  regrouping  the  lines  into  stanzas  with  those  of  stanzas  7  and 

9.  In  line  3  the  word  long  is  sheer  guesswork,  as  the  line  in  the 
manuscript  contains  a  metrical  error. 

9.  Some  editors  combine  the  first  two  lines  with  parts  of 
stanza  8,  and  the  last  two  with  the  first  half  of  stanza  10.  Njars: 

[  257  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


By  night  went  his  men,  their  mail-coats  were 
studded, 

Their  shields  in  the  waning  moonlight  shone. 

10.  From  their  saddles  the  gable  wall  they  sought, 
And  in  they  went  at  the  end  of  the  hall ; 

Rings  they  saw  there  on  ropes  of  bast, 

Seven  hundred  the  hero  had. 

11.  Off  they  took  them,  but  all  they  left 
Save  one  alone  which  they  bore  away. 


12.  Völund  home  from  his  hunting  came, 

From  a  weary  way,  the  weather-wise  bowman; 
A  brown  bear’s  flesh  would  he  roast  with  fire ; 
Soon  the  wood  so  dry  was  burning  well, 

(The  wind-dried  wood  that  Volund’s  was). 


there  has  been  much,  and  inconclusive,  discussion  as  to  what  this 
name  means;  probably  it  applies  to  a  semi-mythical  people  some¬ 
where  vaguely  in  “the  East.” 

10.  Some  editors  combine  lines  3-4  with  the  fragmentary 
stanza  11. 

11.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  some  editors  combine 
these  lines  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  10,  while  others  combine  them 
with  the  first  two  lines  of  stanza  12.  The  one  ring  which  Nithuth’s 
men  steal  is  given  to  Bothvild,  and  proves  the  cause  of  her 
undoing. 

12.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3,  and  not  line  1,  as  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  a  stanza,  which  has  given  rise  to  a  large  amount  of 
conjectural  rearrangement.  Line  2  of  the  original  is  identical 
with  the  phrase  added  by  Bugge  in  stanza  6.  Line  5  may  be 

[  258  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


13.  On  the  bearskin  he  rested,  and  counted  the  rings, 
The  master  of  elves,  but  one  he  missed ; 

That  Hlothver’s  daughter  had  it  he  thought, 
And  the  all-wise  maid  had  come  once  more. 

14.  So  long  he  sat  that  he  fell  asleep, 

His  waking  empty  of  gladness  was; 

Heavy  chains  he  saw  on  his  hands, 

And  fetters  bound  his  feet  together. 

Völund  spake: 

15.  “What  men  are  they  who  thus  have  laid 
Ropes  of  bast  to  bind  me  now?” 

Then  Nithuth  called,  the  lord  of  the  Njars: 
“How  gottest  thou,  Volund,  greatest  of  elves, 
These  treasures  of  ours  in  Ulfdalir?” 

Volund  spake: 

16.  “The  gold  was  not  on  Grani’s  way, 


spurious,  or  lines  4-5  may  have  been  expanded  out  of  a  single 
line  running  “The  wind-dried  wood  for  Volund  burned  well.” 

13.  Elves:  the  poem  here  identifies  Volund  as  belonging  to 
the  race  of  the  elves.  Hlothver’s  daughter:  Hervor;  many  editors 
treat  the  adjective  “all-wise”  here  as  a  proper  name. 

15.  In  this  poem  the  manuscript  indicates  the  speakers.  Some 
editors  make  lines  1-2  into  a  separate  stanza,  linking  lines  3-5 
(or  4-5)  with  stanza  16.  Line  3  is  very  possibly  spurious,  a  mere 
expansion  of  “Nithuth  spake.”  Nithuth,  of  course,  has  come  with 
his  men  to  capture  Volund,  and  now  charges  him  with  having 
stolen  his  treasure. 

16.  The  manuscript  definitely  assigns  this  stanza  to  Volund, 
but  many  editors  give  the  first  two  lines  to  Nithuth.  In  the  manu- 

[  259  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Far,  methinks,  is  our  realm  from  the  hills  of  the 
Rhine ; 

I  mind  me  that  treasures  more  we  had 
When  happy  together  at  home  we  were.” 

17.  Without  stood  the  wife  of  Nithuth  wise, 

And  in  she  came  from  the  end  of  the  hall ; 

On  the  floor  she  stood,  and  softly  spoke: 

“Not  kind  does  he  look  who  comes  from  the 
wood.” 

King  Nithuth  gave  to  his  daughter  Bothvild  the  gold 
ring  that  he  had  taken  from  the  bast  rope  in  Volund’s 


script  stanza  16  is  followed  by  the  two  lines  of  stanza  2,  and 
many  editions  make  of  lines  3-4  of  stanza  16  and  stanza  2  a 
single  speech  by  Volund.  Grant’s  way:  Grani  was  Sigurth’s 
horse,  on  which  he  rode  to  slay  Fafnir  and  win  Andvari’s  hoard; 
this  and  the  reference  to  the  Rhine  as  the  home  of  wealth  betray 
the  southern  source  of  the  story.  If  lines  1-2  belong  to  Völund, 
they  mean  that  Nithuth  got  his  wealth  in  the  Rhine  country,  and 
that  Volund’s  hoard  has  nothing  to  do  with  it;  if  the  speaker  is 
Nithuth,  they  mean  that  Völund  presumably  has  not  killed  a 
dragon,  and  that  he  is  far  from  the  wealth  of  the  Rhine,  so  that 
he  must  have  stolen  his  treasure  from  Nithuth  himself. 

17.  Line  1  is  lacking  in  the  manuscript,  lines  2-4  following 
immediately  after  the  two  lines  here  given  as  stanza  2.  Line  1, 
borrowed  from  line  1  of  stanza  32,  is  placed  here  by  many  edi¬ 
tors,  following  Bugge’s  suggestion.  Certainly  it  is  Nithuth’s  wife 
who  utters  line  4.  Who  comes  from  the  wood:  Völund,  noted  as  a 
hunter.  Gering  assumes  that  with  the  entrance  of  Nithuth’s  wife 
the  scene  has  changed  from  Volund’s  house  to  Nithuth’s,  but  I 
cannot  see  that  this  is  necessary. 

Prose.  The  annotator  inserted  this  note  rather  clumsily  in  the 
midst  of  the  speech  of  Nithuth’s  wife. 

[  260  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


house,  and  he  himself  wore  the  sword  that  Völund  had 
had.  The  queen  spake : 

1 8.  “The  glow  of  his  eyes  is  like  gleaming  snakes, 

H  is  teeth  he  gnashes  if  now  is  shown 

The  sword,  or  Bothvild’s  ring  he  sees; 

Let  them  straightway  cut  his  sinews  of  strength, 
And  set  him  then  in  Sævarstath.” 

So  was  it  done:  the  sinews  in  his  knee-joints  were  cut, 
and  he  was  set  in  an  island  which  was  near  the  mainland, 
and  was  called  Sævarstath.  There  he  smithied  for  the 
king  all  kinds  of  precious  things.  No  man  dared  to  go 
to  him,  save  only  the  king  himself.  Völund  spake: 

19.  “At  Nithuth’s  girdle  gleams  the  sword 
That  I  sharpened  keen  with  cunningest  craft, 
(And  hardened  the  steel  with  highest  skill;) 
The  bright  blade  far  forever  is  borne, 

(Nor  back  shall  I  see  it  borne  to  my  smithy;) 
Now  Bothvild  gets  the  golden  ring 
(That  was  once  my  bride’s, —  ne’er  well  shall  it 

be.)” 


18.  In  the  manuscript  lines  2-3  stand  before  line  1;  many 
editors  have  made  the  transposition  here  indicated.  Some  editors 
reject  line  3  as  spurious.  Sœvarstath:  “Sea-Stead.” 

19.  This  stanza  is  obviously  in  bad  shape.  Vigfusson  makes 
two  stanzas  of  it  by  adding  a  first  line:  “Then  did  Volund 
speak,  sagest  of  elves.”  Editors  have  rejected  various  lines, 
and  some  have  regrouped  the  last  lines  with  the  first  two  of 

[261] 


Poetic  Edda 


20.  He  sat,  nor  slept, 
Fast  for  Nithuth 
Two  boys  did  go 
Nithuth’s  sons, 


and  smote  with  his  hammer, 
wonders  he  fashioned ; 
in  his  door  to  gaze, 
into  Sævarstath. 


21.  They  came  to  the  chest,  and  they  craved  the  keys, 
The  evil  was  open  when  in  they  looked; 

To  the  boys  it  seemed  that  gems  they  saw, 

Gold  in  plenty  and  precious  stones. 

Vólund  spake: 

22.  “Come  ye  alone,  the  next  day  come, 

Gold  to  you  both  shall  then  be  given ; 

Tell  not  the  maids  or  the  men  of  the  hall, 

To  no  one  say  that  me  you  have  sought.” 


stanza  20.  The  elimination  of  the  passages  in  parenthesis  pro¬ 
duces  a  four-line  stanza  which  is  metrically  correct,  but  it  has 
little  more  than  guesswork  to  support  it. 

20.  The  editions  vary  radically  in  combining  the  lines  of  this 
stanza  with  those  of  stanzas  19  and  21,  particularly  as  the  manu¬ 
script  indicates  the  third  line  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza.  The 
meaning,  however,  remains  unchanged. 

21.  Several  editions  make  one  stanza  out  of  lines  3-4  of  stanza 
20  and  lines  1-2  of  stanza  21,  and  another  out  of  the  next  four 
lines.  The  evil  was  open:  i.e.,  the  gold  in  the  chest  was  destined 
to  be  their  undoing. 

22.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza,  and  several  editors  have  adopted  this  grouping.  In  the 
Thithrekssaga  Volund  sends  the  boys  away  with  instructions  not 
to  come  back  until  just  after  a  fall  of  snow,  and  then  to  approach 
his  dwelling  walking  backward.  The  boys  do  this,  and  when, 
after  he  has  killed  them,  Völund  is  questioned  regarding  them, 
he  points  to  the  tracks  in  the  snow  as  evidence  that  they  had  left 
his  house. 


[  262  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


23 . 

Early  did  brother  to  brother  call: 

“Swift  let  us  go  the  rings  to  see.” 

24.  They  came  to  the  chest,  and  they  craved  the  keys, 
The  evil  was  open  when  in  they  looked ; 

He  smote  off  their  heads,  and  their  feet  he  hid 
Under  the  sooty  straps  of  the  bellows. 

25.  Their  skulls,  once  hid  by  their  hair,  he  took, 

Set  them  in  silver  and  sent  them  to  Nithuth; 
Gems  full  fair  from  their  eyes  he  fashioned, 

To  Nithuth’s  wife  so  wise  he  gave  them. 

26.  And  from  the  teeth  of  the  twain  he  wrought 
A  brooch  for  the  breast,  to  Bothvild  he  sent  it ; 


27.  Bothvild  then  of  her  ring  did  boast, 


23.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Some  editors  assume 
it,  as  here;  some  group  the  lines  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  22,  and 
some  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  24. 

24.  Some  editions  begin  a  new  stanza  with  line  3. 

25.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza,  and  many  editors  have  adopted  this  grouping. 

26.  These  two  lines  have  been  grouped  in  various  ways,  either 
with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  25  or  with  the  fragmentary  stanza  27. 
No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but  the  loss  of  something 
is  so  obvious  that  practically  all  editors  have  noted  it,  although 
they  have  differed  as  to  the  number  of  lines  lost. 

27.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  the  line  and  a  half 

[263] 


Poetic  Edda 


.  “The  ring  I  have  broken, 

I  dare  not  say  it  save  to  thee.” 

Völund  spake: 

28.  “I  shall  weld  the  break  in  the  gold  so  well 

That  fairer  than  ever  thy  father  shall  find  it, 
And  better  much  thy  mother  shall  think  it, 
And  thou  no  worse  than  ever  it  was.” 


29.  Beer  he  brought,  he  was  better  in  cunning, 
Until  in  her  seat  full  soon  she  slept. 

Volund  spake: 

“Now  vengeance  I  have  for  all  my  hurts, 
Save  one  alone,  on  the  evil  woman.” 


30 


Quoth  Völund:  “Would  that  well  were  the 
sinews 

Maimed  in  my  feet  by  Nithuth’s  men.” 


might  be  filled  out  (partly  with  the  aid  of  late  paper  manu¬ 
scripts)  thus:  “But  soon  it  broke,  and  swiftly  to  Völund  /  She 
bore  it  and  said — ” 

29.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  Völund  as  the  speaker 
before  line  3  ;  Vigfusson  again  inserts  his  convenient  line,  “Then 
Völund  spake,  sagest  of  elves.”  A  few  editions  combine  lines 
3-4  with  the  two  lines  of  stanza  30. 

30.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  some  editors  com¬ 
bine  the  two  lines  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  29,  and  many  with 
the  three  lines  of  stanza  31. 


Völundarkvitha 


31.  Laughing  Völund  rose  aloft, 

Weeping  Bothvild  went  from  the  isle, 

For  her  lover’s  flight  and  her  father’s  wrath. 

32.  Without  stood  the  wife  of  Nithuth  wise, 

And  in  she  came  from  the  end  of  the  hall; 
But  he  by  the  wall  in  weariness  sat: 

“Wakest  thou,  Nithuth,  lord  of  the  Njars?” 

Nithuth  spake: 

33.  “Always  I  wake,  and  ever  joyless, 

Little  I  sleep  since  my  sons  were  slain; 

Cold  is  my  head,  cold  was  thy  counsel, 

One  thing,  with  Völund  to  speak,  I  wish. 

34 . 


31.  Something  has  probably  been  lost  before  this  stanza,  ex¬ 
plaining  how  Volund  made  himself  wings,  as  otherwise,  owing 
to  his  lameness,  he  could  not  leave  the  island.  The  T hithrekssaga 
tells  the  story  of  how  Volund’s  brother,  Egil,  shot  birds  and  gave 
him  the  feathers,  out  of  which  he  made  a  feather-garment.  This 
break  in  the  narrative  illustrates  the  lack  of  knowledge  appar¬ 
ently  possessed  by  the  compiler  who  was  responsible  for  the 
prose  notes;  had  he  known  the  story  told  in  the  T hithrekssaga,  it 
is  hardly  conceivable  that  he  would  have  failed  to  indicate  the 
necessary  connecting  link  at  this  point.  Some  editors  reject  line  3 
as  spurious.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  any  lacuna. 

32.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza,  and  many  editors  have  followed  this  arrangement. 

33.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  It  indicates 
line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza.  Vigfusson  adds  before 
line  1,  “Then  spake  Nithuth,  lord  of  the  Njars.” 

34.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but  it  seems  clear 

[  265  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


“Answer  me,  Völund,  greatest  of  elves, 

What  happed  with  my  boys  that  hale  once  were  ?” 

Völund  spake: 

35.  “First  shalt  thou  all  the  oaths  now  swear, 

By  the  rail  of  ship,  and  the  rim  of  shield, 

By  the  shoulder  of  steed,  and  the  edge  of  sword, 
That  to  Völund’s  wife  thou  wilt  work  no  ill, 
Nor  yet  my  bride  to  her  death  wilt  bring, 
Though  a  wife  I  should  have  that  well  thou 
knowest, 

And  a  child  I  should  have  within  thy  hall. 

36.  “Seek  the  smithy  that  thou  didst  set, 

Thou  shalt  find  the  bellows  sprinkled  with  blood ; 
I  smote  off  the  heads  of  both  thy  sons, 

And  their  feet  ’neath  the  sooty  straps  I  hid. 

37.  “Their  skulls,  once  hid  by  their  hair,  I  took, 

Set  them  in  silver  and  sent  them  to  Nithuth; 


that  something  has  been  lost.  Some  editors  combine  these  two 
lines  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  33.  Volund  is  now  flying  over 
Nithuth’s  hall. 

35.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker;  Vigfusson 
again  makes  two  full  stanzas  with  the  line,  “Then  did  Völund 
speak,  sagest  of  elves.”  Some  editors  begin  a  new  stanza  with 
line  4,  while  others  reject  as  interpolations  lines  2-3  or  5-7. 
Völund’s  wife :  the  reference  is  to  Bothvild,  as  Völund  wishes  to 
have  his  vengeance  fall  more  heavily  on  her  father  than  on  her. 

36.  Lines  3-4  are  nearly  identical  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  24. 

37.  Identical,  except  for  the  pronouns,  with  stanza  25. 

[  266  ] 


Völundarkvitha 


Gems  full  fair  from  their  eyes  I  fashioned, 
To  Nithuth’s  wife  so  wise  I  gave  them. 


38.  “And  from  the  teeth  of  the  twain  I  wrought 
A  brooch  for  the  breast,  to  Bothvild  I  gave  it ; 
Now  big  with  child  does  Bothvild  go, 

The  only  daughter  ye  two  had  ever.” 


Nit  hut  h  spake: 

39.  “Never  spakest  thou  word 
me, 

Nor  that  made  me,  Volund, 
geance ; 

There  is  no  man  so  high 
thee, 

Or  so  doughty  an  archer 


that  worse  could  hurt 
more  bitter  for  ven- 
from  thy  horse  to  take 
as  down  to  shoot  thee, 


While  high  in  the  clouds  thy  course  thou  takest.” 


40.  Laughing  Völund 
But  left  in  sadness 


rose  aloft, 
Nithuth  sat. 


38.  Lines  1-2:  cf.  stanza  26. 

39.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  Either  line  4 
or  line  5  may  be  an  interpolation;  two  editions  reject  lines  3-5, 
combining  lines  1-2  with  stanza  40.  In  the  T hithrekssaga  Nithuth 
actually  compels  Egil,  Volund’s  brother,  to  shoot  at  Völund.  The 
latter  has  concealed  a  bladder  full  of  blood  under  his  left  arm, 
and  when  his  brother’s  arrow  pierces  this,  Nithuth  assumes  that 
his  enemy  has  been  killed.  This  episode  likewise  appears  among 
the  scenes  from  Völund’s  career  rudely  carved  on  an  ancient 
casket  of  ivory,  bearing  an  Anglo-Saxon  inscription  in  runic  let¬ 
ters,  which  has  been  preserved. 

40.  Line  1:  cf.  stanza  31.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  lacuna. 

[  267] 


Poetic  Edda 


41.  Then  spake  Nithuth,  lord  of  the  Njars: 

“Rise  up,  Thakkrath,  best  of  my  thralls, 

Bid  Bothvild  come,  the  bright-browed  maid, 
Bedecked  so  fair,  with  her  father  to  speak.” 

42 .  . 

“Is  it  true,  Bothvild,  that  which  was  told  me; 
Once  in  the  isle  with  Völund  wert  thou?” 

Bothvild  spake: 

43.  “True  is  it,  Nithuth,  that  which  was  told  thee, 
Once  in  the  isle  with  Volund  was  I, 

An  hour  of  lust,  alas  it  should  be ! 

Nought  was  my  might  with  such  a  man, 

Nor  from  his  strength  could  I  save  myself.” 


41.  The  first  line  is  a  conjectural  addition.  T hakkrath  is  prob¬ 
ably  the  northern  form  of  the  Middle  High  German  name 
Dancrat. 

42.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  indicates  line  3  as 
the  beginning  of  a  stanza;  Vigfusson’s  added  “Then  Nithuth 
spake,  lord  of  the  Njars”  seems  plausible  enough. 

43.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  Different 
editors  have  rejected  one  or  another  of  the  last  three  lines,  and 
as  the  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza,  the  loss  of  two  or  three  lines  has  likewise  been  suggested. 
According  to  the  Thithrekssaga,  the  son  of  Völund  and  Bothvild 
was  Vithga,  or  Witege,  one  of  the  heroes  of  Dietrich  of  Bern. 


[268] 


HELGAKVITHA 

HJORVARTHSSONAR 

The  Lay  of  Helgi  the  Son  of  Hjorvarth 

Introductory  Note 

The  three  Helgi  lays,  all  found  in  the  Codex  Regius,  have 
been  the  subjects  of  a  vast  amount  of  discussion,  in  spite  of 
which  many  of  the  facts  regarding  them  are  still  very  far  from 
settled.  It  is,  indeed,  scarcely  possible  to  make  any  unqualified 
statement  regarding  these  three  poems  for  which  a  flat  contra¬ 
diction  cannot  be  found  in  the  writings  of  some  scholar  of 
distinction.  The  origin  of  the  Helgi  tradition,  its  connection 
with  that  of  Sigurth,  the  authorship,  date  and  home  of  the 
poems,  the  degree  to  which  they  have  been  altered  from  their 
original  , forms,  the  status  of  the  composer  of  the  copious  prose 
notes:  these  and  many  other  allied  questions  have  been  and 
probably  always  will  be  matters  of  dispute  among  students  of 
the  Edda’s  history. 

Without  attempting  to  enter  into  the  discussion  in  detail, 
certain  theories  should  be  noted.  Helgi  appears  originally  to 
have  been  a  Danish  popular  hero,  the  son  of  King  Halfdan. 
Saxo  Grammaticus  has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  him  in  that 
capacity,  and  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  many  of  the  place 
names  in  the  Helgi  lays  can  be  pretty  clearly  identified  with 
parts  of  Denmark  and  neighboring  stretches  of  the  Baltic.  The 
Danish  Helgi,  according  to  Saxo,  was  famed  as  the  conqueror 
of  Hunding  and  Hothbrodd,  the  latter  as  the  result  of  a  naval 
expedition  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  fleet. 

From  Denmark  the  story  appears  to  have  spread  northward 
into  Norway  and  westward  into  the  Norse  settlements  among 
the  islands.  Not  many  of  its  original  features  remained,  and  new 
ones  were  added  here  and  there,  particularly  with  regard  to 
Helgi’s  love  affair  with  Sigrun.  The  victories  over  Hunding 
and  Hothbrodd,  however,  were  generally  retained,  and  out  of 
material  relating  to  these  two  fights,  and  to  the  Helgi-Sigrun 
story,  were  fashioned  the  two  lays  of  Helgi  Hundingsbane. 

How  the  Helgi  legend  became  involved  with  that  of  the 
Volsungs  is  an  open  question.  Both  stories  travelled  from  the 
South,  and  presumably  about  the  same  time,  so  it  is  not  unnatural 

[269] 


Poetic  Edda 


that  some  confusion  should  have  arisen.  At  no  time,  however, 
was  the  connection  particularly  close  so  far  as  the  actual 
episodes  of  the  two  stories  were  concerned.  In  the  two  lays  of 
Helgi  Hundingsbane  the  relationship  is  established  only  by  the 
statement  that  Helgi  was  the  son  of  Sigmund  and  Borghild; 
Sigurth  is  not  mentioned,  and  in  the  lay  of  Helgi  the  son  of 
Hjorvarth  there  is  no  connection  at  all.  On  the  other  hand, 
Helgi  does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  Eddie  poems  dealing 
directly  with  the  Volsung  stories,  although  in  one  passage  of 
doubtful  authenticity  (cf.  Reginsmol,  introductory  note)  his 
traditional  enemy,  Hunding,  does,  represented  by  his  sons.  In 
the  V olsungasaga  the  story  of  Helgi,  including  the  fights  with 
Hunding  and  Hothbrodd  and  the  love  affair  with  Sigrun,  is 
told  in  chapters  8  and  9  without  otherwise  affecting  the  course 
of  the  narrative.  Here,  as  in  the  Helgi  lays,  Helgi  is  the  son 
of  Sigmund  Volsungsson  and  Borghild;  Sigurth,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  the  son  of  Sigmund  and  Hjordis,  the  latter  being  the 
daughter  of  King  Eylimi.  Still  another  son,  who  complicates 
both  stories  somewhat,  is  Sinfjotli,  son  of  Sigmund  and  his 
own  sister,  Signy.  Sinfjotli  appears  in  both  of  the  Helgi  Hund¬ 
ingsbane  lays  and  in  the  V olsungasaga,  but  not  in  any  of  the 
Eddie  poems  belonging  to  the  Volsung  cycle  (cf.  Fra  Dautha 
Sinfjotla  and  note). 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  resemblance  between  the  story 
of  Helgi  and  Sigrun  and  that  of  Sigurth  and  Brynhild,  particu¬ 
larly  as  the  annotator  responsible  for  the  prose  notes  insists 
that  Sigrun  was  a  Valkyrie.  Whether  this  resemblance  was  the 
cause  of  bringing  the  two  stories  together,  or  whether  the 
identification  of  Helgi  as  Sigmund’s  son  resulted  in  alterations 
of  the  love  story  in  the  Helgi  poems,  cannot  be  determined. 

The  first  of  the  three  Helgi  poems,  the  lay  of  Helgi  the  son 
of  Hjorvarth,  is  a  somewhat  distant  cousin  of  the  other  two. 
The  Helgi  in  question  is  apparently  the  same  traditional  figure, 
and  he  leads  a  naval  expedition,  but  he  is  not  the  son  of 
Sigmund,  there  is  no  connection  with  the  Volsung  cycle,  and  his 
wife  is  Svava,  not  Sigrun.  At  the  same  time,  the  points  of 
general  resemblance  with  the  two  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lays 
are  such  as  to  indicate  a  common  origin,  provided  one  goes 
far  enough  back.  The  annotator  brings  the  stories  together  by 
the  naive  expedient  of  having  Helgi  “born  again,”  and  not  once 
only,  but  twice. 


[  270  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

The  first  Helgi  lay  is  manifestly  in  bad  shape,  and  includes 
at  least  two  distinct  poems,  differentiated  not  only  by  subject- 
matter  but  by  metrical  form.  Although  the  question  is  debatable, 
the  longer  of  these  poems  (stanzas  i-ii  and  31-43)  seems  in 
turn  to  have  been  compounded  out  of  fragments  of  two  or  more 
Helgi  poems.  The  first  five  stanzas  are  a  dialogue  between  a 
bird  and  Atli,  one  of  Hjorvarth’s  followers,  concerning  the 
winning  of  Sigrlin,  who  is  destined  to  be  Hjorvarth’s  wife  and 
Helgi’s  mother.  Stanzas  6-n  are  a  dialogue  between  Helgi  and 
a  Valkyrie  (the  accompanying  prose  so  calls  her,  and  identifies 
her  as  Svava,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  verse  to  prove  this). 
Stanzas  12-30  form  a  fairly  consecutive  unit,  in  which  Atli,  on 
guard  over  Helgi’s  ship,  has  a  vigorous  argument  with  a  giantess, 
Hrimgerth,  whence  this  section  has  sometimes  been  called  the 
Hrimg ertharmol  ( Lay  of  Hrimgerth) .  The  last  section,  stanzas 
31-43,  is  again  fairly  consecutive,  and  tells  of  the  death  of 
Helgi  following  the  rash  oath  of  his  brother,  Hethin,  to  win 
Svava  for  himself. 

Parts  I,  II,  and  IV  may  all  have  come  from  the  same  poem 
or  they  may  not;  it  is  quite  impossible  to  tell  surely.  All  of  them 
are  generally  dated  by  commentators  not  later  than  the  first 
half  of  the  tenth  century,  whereas  the  Hrimg  ertharmol  (section 
III)  is  placed  considerably  later.  When  and  by  whom  these 
fragments  were  pieced  together  is  another  vexed  question,  and 
this  involves  a  consideration  of  the  prose  notes  and  links,  of 
which  the  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar  has  a  larger  amount 
than  any  other  poem  in  the  Edda.  These  prose  links  contain 
practically  all  the  narrative,  the  verse  being  almost  exclusively 
dialogue.  Whoever  composed  them  seems  to  have  been  con¬ 
sciously  trying  to  bring  his  chaotic  verse  material  into  some 
semblance  of  unity,  but  he  did  his  work  pretty  clumsily,  with 
manifest  blunders  and  contradictions.  Bugge  has  advanced  the 
theory  that  these  prose  passages  are  to  be  regarded  as  an 
original  and  necessary  part  of  the  work,  but  this  hardly  squares 
with  the  evidence. 

It  seems  probable,  rather,  that  as  the  Helgi  tradition  spread 
from  its  native  Denmark  through  the  Norse  regions  of  the  North 
and  West,  and  became  gradually  interwoven,  although  not  in 
essentials,  with  the  other  great  hero  cycle  from  the  South,  that 
of  the  Volsungs,  a  considerable  number  of  poems  dealing  with 
Helgi  were  composed,  at  different  times  and  in  different  places, 

[271  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


reflecting  varied  forms  of  the  story.  Many  generations  after¬ 
wards,  when  Iceland’s  literary  period  had  arrived,  some  zealous 
scribe  committed  to  writing  such  poems  or  fragments  of  poems 
as  he  knew,  piecing  them  together  and  annotating  them  on  the 
basis  of  information  which  had  reached  him  through  other 
channels.  The  prose  notes  to  Helgakvitha  Hnndingsbana  II 
frankly  admit  this  patchwork  process:  a  section  of  four  stanzas 
(13-16)  is  introduced  with  the  phrase,  “as  is  said  in  the  Old 
Volsung  Lay”;  the  final  prose  note  cites  an  incident  “told  in 
the  Karuljoth  ( Lay  of  Kara),”  and  a  two-line  speech  is  quoted 
“as  it  was  written  before  in  the  Helgakvitha” 

The  whole  problem  of  the  origin,  character  and  home  of  the 
Helgi  poems  has  been  discussed  in  great  detail  by  Bugge  in  his 
Helge-Digtene  i  den  Ældre  Edda,  Deres  Hjem  og  Forbindelser, 
which,  as  translated  by  W.  H.  Schofield  under  the  title  The 
Home  of  the  Eddie  Poems,  is  available  for  readers  of  English. 
This  study  is  exceedingly  valuable,  if  not  in  all  respects  con¬ 
vincing.  The  whole  matter  is  so  complex  and  so  important  in 
the  history  of  Old  Norse  literature,  and  any  intelligent  reading 
of  the  Helgi  poems  is  so  dependent  on  an  understanding  of 
the  conditions  under  which  they  have  come  down  to  us,  that 
I  have  here  discussed  the  question  more  extensively  than  the 
scope  of  a  mere  introductory  note  to  a  single  poem  would 
warrant. 


(i) 

OF  HJORVARTH  AND  SIGRLIN 

Hjorvarth  was  the  name  of  a  king,  who  had  four  wives: 
one  was  called  Alfhild,  and  their  son  was  named  Hethin ; 
the  second  was  called  Særeith,  and  their  son  was  named 
Humlung;  the  third  was  called  Sinrjoth,  and  their  son  was 


Prose:  In  the  manuscript  the  sub-title,  “Of  Hjorvarth  and 
Sigrlin,”  stands  as  the  title  for  the  whole  poem,  though  it  clearly 
applies  only  to  the  first  five  stanzas.  Most  editions  employ  the 
title  here  given.  Hjorvarth:  the  name  is  a  not  uncommon  one; 

[  272  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

named  Hymling.  King  Hjorvarth  had  made  a  great  vow 
to  have  as  wife  whatsoever  woman  he  knew  was  fairest. 
He  learned  that  King  Svafnir  had  a  daughter  fairer  than 
all  others,  whose  name  was  Sigrlin.  Ithmund  was  the 
name  of  one  of  his  jarls;  he  had  a  son  called  Atli,  who 
went  to  woo  Sigrlin  on  behalf  of  the  king.  He  dwelt 
the  winter  long  with  King  Svafnir.  There  was  a  jarl 
called  Franmar,  Sigrlin’s  foster-father;  his  daughter  was 
named  Alof.  The  jarl  told  him  that  the  maiden’s  hand 
was  denied,  and  Atli  went  home.  Atli,  the  jarl’s  son, 
stood  one  day  in  a  certain  wood ;  a  bird  sat  in  the  branches 
up  over  him,  and  it  had  heard  that  his  men  called  Hjor- 
varth’s  wives  the  fairest  of  women.  The  bird  twittered, 
and  Atli  hearkened  to  what  it  spoke.  It  said : 


there  are  two  men  of  that  name  mentioned  in  the  mythical- 
heroic  genealogies  of  the  Hyndluljoth  (stanzas  23  and  28),  and 
Hjorvarth  appears  in  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I  (stanza  14) 
and  II  (prose  after  stanza  12)  as  a  son  of  Hunding.  This 
particular  Hjorvarth  is  called  by  the  annotator,  but  not  directly 
so  in  the  verse,  a  king  of  Norway.  The  name  means  “Sword- 
Guardian.”  Four  wives:  polygamy,  while  very  infrequent, 
appears  occasionally  in  the  Norse  sagas.  Alfhild:  “Elf-Warrior.” 
Hethin:  “Fur-Clothed”  (?).  Scereith:  “Sea-Rider.”  Sinrjoth: 
“Ever-Red.”  The  fourth  wife,  not  here  named,  may  be  Sigrlin. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  Særeith  and  Sinrjoth  may  be  northern 
and  southern  forms  of  the  same  name,  as  also  Humlung  and 
Hymling,  their  sons.  Svafnir:  the  annotator  calls  him  king  of 
Svavaland,  apparently  a  place  on  the  mainland  which  could  be 
reached  from  Norway  either  by  land  or  by  sea.  Sigrlin:  “The 
Conquering  Serpent.”  Atli:  Norse  form  of  the  Gothic  Attila 
(Etzel).  Alof:  perhaps  a  feminine  form  of  Olaf.  A  bird: 
compare  the  counsel  given  by  the  birds  to  Sigurth  after  the 
slaying  of  Fafnir  ( Fafnismol ,  stanzas  32-38).  This  is  one  of  the 
many  curious  resemblances  between  the  Helgi  and  the  Sigurth 
stories. 


[  273  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


1.  “Sawest  thou  Sigrlin,  Svafnir’s  daughter, 

The  fairest  maid  in  her  home-land  found? 
Though  Hjorvath’s  wives  by  men  are  held 
Goodly  to  see  in  Glasir’s  wood.” 

A  tli  spake : 

2.  “Now  with  Atli,  Ithmund’s  son, 

Wilt  thou  say  more,  thou  bird  so  wise?” 

The  bird  spake: 

“I  may  if  the  prince  an  offering  makes, 

And  I  have  what  I  will  from  the  house  of  the 
king.” 

A  tli  spake: 

3.  “Choose  not  Hjorvarth,  nor  sons  of  his, 

Nor  the  wives  so  fair  of  the  famous  chief; 

Ask  not  the  brides  that  the  prince’s  are; 

Fair  let  us  deal  in  friendly  wise.” 

The  bird  spake: 

4.  “A  fane  will  I  ask,  and  altars  many, 

Gold-horned  cattle  the  prince  shall  give  me, 

If  Sigrlin  yet  shall  sleep  in  his  arms, 

Or  free  of  will  the  hero  shall  follow.” 


1.  Glasir’s  wood:  Snorri  in  the  Skaldskaparmal  quotes  a  half 
stanza  to  the  effect  that  “Glasir  stands  with  golden  leaves 
before  Othin’s  hall,”  and  calls  it  “the  fairest  wood  among  gods 
and  men.”  The  phrase  as  used  here  seems  to  mean  little. 

4.  The  bird’s  demands  would  indicate  that  it  is  in  reality  one 
of  the  gods.  Gold-horned  cattle:  cf.  T hrymskvitha,  23.  There 

[  274] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

This  was  before  Atli  went  on  his  journey;  but  when 
he  came  home,  and  the  king  asked  his  tidings,  he  said : 

5.  “Trouble  we  had,  but  tidings  none, 

Our  horses  failed  in  the  mountains  high, 

The  waters  of  Sæmorn  we  needs  must  wade  ; 
Svafnir’s  daughter,  with  rings  bedecked, 

She  whom  we  sought,  was  still  denied  us.” 

The  king  bade  that  they  should  go  another  time,  and 
he  went  with  them  himself.  But  when  they  came  up  on 
the  mountain,  they  saw  Svavaland  burning  and  mighty 
dust-clouds  from  many  steeds.  The  king  rode  from  the 
mountain  forward  into  the  land,  and  made  a  night’s  stay 
hard  by  a  stream.  Atli  kept  watch  and  went  over  the 
stream ;  he  found  there  a  house.  A  great  bird  sat  on  the 
housetop  to  guard  it,  but  he  was  asleep.  Atli  hurled  his 
spear  at  the  bird  and  slew  it,  and  in  the  house  he  found 
Sigrlin  the  king’s  daughter  and  Alof  the  jarl’s  daughter, 
and  he  brought  them  both  thence  with  him.  Jarl  Franmar 
had  changed  himself  into  the  likeness  of  an  eagle,  and 
guarded  them  from  the  enemy  host  by  magic.  Hrothmar 
was  the  name  of  a  king,  a  wooer  of  Sigrlin ;  he  slew  the 


are  other  references  to  gilding  the  horns  of  cattle,  particularly 
for  sacrificial  purposes. 

Prose.  The  annotator  contradicts  himself  here,  as  he  had 
already  stated  that  Atli  was  on  his  way  home. 

5.  Possibly  the  remains  of  two  stanzas,  or  perhaps  a  line  has 
been  added.  Samorn:  this  river  is  nowhere  else  mentioned. 

Prose.  Sigrlin  and  Alof,  protected  by  the  latter’s  father, 
Franmar,  have  fled  before  the  ravaging  army  of  Sigrlin’s  rejected 

[  275  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


king  of  Svavaland  and  had  plundered  and  burned  his 
land.  King  Hjorvarth  took  Sigrlin,  and  Atli  took  Alof. 

(II) 

Hjorvarth  and  Sigrlin  had  a  son,  mighty  and  of  noble 
stature ;  he  was  a  silent  man,  and  no  name  stuck  fast  to 
him.  He  sat  on  a  hill,  and  saw  nine  Valkyries  riding; 
one  of  them  was  the  fairest  of  all.  She  spake: 

6.  “Late  wilt  thou,  Helgi,  have  hoard  of  rings, 

Thou  battle-tree  fierce,  or  of  shining  fields, — 
The  eagle  screams  soon, —  if  never  thou  speakest, 

Though,  hero,  hard  thy  heart  may  cry.” 

Helgi  spake: 

7.  “What  gift  shall  I  have  with  Helgi’s  name, 
Glorious  maid,  for  the  giving  is  thine? 


suitor,  Hrothmar.  The  beginning  of  a  new  section  (II)  is  indi¬ 
cated  in  the  manuscript  only  by  the  unusually  large  capital  letter 
with  which  “Hjorvarth”  begins.  No  name,  etc.:  this  probably 
means  that  Helgi  had  always  been  so  silent  that  he  would  answer 
to  no  name,  with  the  result  that  he  had  none.  Valkyries:  cf. 
Voluspo,  31  and  note.  The  annotator  insists  here  and  in  the 
prose  after  stanza  9  that  Svava  was  a  Valkyrie,  but  there  is 
nothing  in  the  verse  to  prove  it,  or,  indeed,  to  identify  the 
Svava  of  the  last  section  of  the  poem  with  the  person  who  gave 
Helgi  his  name.  In  the  V olsungasaga  Sigmund  himself  names 
his  son  Helgi,  and  gives  him  a  sword,  following  Helgakvitha 
Hundingsbana  I. 

6.  Battle-tree :  poetic  phrase  for  “warrior.”  Shining  fields: 
the  words  in  the  manuscript  may  form  a  proper  name,  Rothuls- 
voll,  having  this  meaning. 

7.  Gift:  not  only  was  it  customary  to  give  gifts  with  the  naming 

[  276] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

All  thy  words  shall  I  think  on  well, 

But  I  want  them  not  if  I  win  not  thee.” 


The  Valkyrie  spake : 

8.  “Swords  I  know  lying  in  Sigarsholm, 

Fifty  there  are  save  only  four; 

One  there  is  that  is  best  of  all, 

The  shield-destroyer,  with  gold  it  shines. 

9.  “In  the  hilt  is  fame,  in  the  haft  is  courage, 

In  the  point  is  fear,  for  its  owner’s  foes; 

On  the  blade  there  lies  a  blood-flecked  snake, 
And  a  serpent’s  tail  round  the  flat  is  twisted.” 

Eylimi  was  the  name  of  a  king,  whose  daughter  was 
Svava;  she  was  a  Valkyrie,  and  rode  air  and  sea.  She 
gave  Helgi  this  name,  and  shielded  him  oft  thereafter  in 
battle.  Helgi  spake: 

10.  “Hjorvarth,  king,  unwholesome  thy  counsels, 
Though  famed  thou  art  in  leading  the  folk, 


of  a  child,  but  the  practice  frequently  obtained  when  a  permanent 
epithet  was  added  to  the  name  of  an  adult. 

8.  Sigarsholm  (“Isle  of  Sigar”)  :  a  place  not  identified,  but 
probably  related  to  the  Sigarsvoll  where  Helgi  was  slain 
(stanza  35). 

9.  The  sword  is  carved  with  magic  runes  and  with  snakes. 
Fame:  the  original  word  is  uncertain. 

Prose.  Eylimi:  this  name  is  another  link  with  the  Sigurth 
story,  as  it  is  likewise  the  name  of  the  father  of  Sigurth’s  mother, 
Hjordis. 

10.  With  this  stanza  begins  a  new  episode,  that  of  Helgi’s 

[  277  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Letting  fire  the  homes  of  heroes  eat, 

Who  evil  deed  had  never  done  thee. 

11.  “Yet  Hrothmar  still  the  hoard  doth  hold, 

The  wealth  that  once  our  kinsmen  wielded ; 

Full  seldom  care  the  king  disturbs, 

Heir  to  dead  men  he  deems  himself.” 

Hjorvarth  answered  that  he  would  give  Helgi  a  fol¬ 
lowing  if  he  fain  would  avenge  his  mother’s  father.  Then 
Helgi  got  the  sword  that  Svava  had  told  him  of.  So 
he  went,  and  Atli  with  him,  and  they  slew  Hrothmar, 
and  they  did  many  great  deeds. 

(HI) 

He  slew  the  giant  Hati,  whom  he  found  sitting  on  a 
certain  mountain.  Helgi  and  Atli  lay  with  their  ships 
in  Hatafjord.  Atli  kept  watch  during  the  first  part  of 
the  night.  Hrimgerth,  Hati’s  daughter,  spake: 

12.  “Who  are  the  heroes  in  Hatafjord? 

The  ships  are  covered  with  shields ; 


victory  over  King  Hrothmar,  who  had  killed  his  mother’s  father 
(cf.  prose  after  stanza  5).  It  has  been  suggested,  in  consequence, 
that  stanzas  10-11  may  be  a  separate  fragment.  The  verse  tells 
nothing  of  the  battle,  merely  giving  Helgi’s  reproaches  to  his 
father  for  having  left  Svafnir’s  death  and  the  burning  of 
Svavaland  unavenged. 

Prose.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  any  break,  but  the 
episode  which  forms  the  basis  of  the  Hrimgertharmol  (stanzas 
12-30)  clearly  begins  with  the  slaying  of  the  giant  Hati  (“The 
Hateful”).  Hatafjord:  “Hati’s  Fjord.”  Hrimgerth :  “Frost- 
Shrouded”  (?). 


[  278  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

Bravely  ye  look,  and  little  ye  fear, 

The  name  of  the  king  would  I  know.’, 

A  tit  spake: 

13.  “Helgi  his  name,  and  never  thou  mayst 

Harm  to  the  hero  bring; 

With  iron  is  fitted  the  prince’s  fleet, 

Nor  can  witches  work  us  ill.” 

Hrimgertli  spake: 

14.  “Who  now,  thou  mighty  man,  art  thou? 

By  what  name  art  thou  known  to  men  ? 

He  trusts  thee  well,  the  prince  who  wills 
That  thou  stand  at  the,  stem  of  his  ship.” 

A tli  spake: 

15.  “Atli  am  I,  and  ill  shalt  thou  find  me, 

Great  hate  for  witches  I  have  ; 

Oft  have  I  been  in  the  dripping  bows, 

And  to  dusk-riders  death  have  brought. 

16.  “Corpse-hungry  giantess,  how  art  thou  called  ? 

Say,  witch,  who  thy  father  was! 


13.  Iron:  the  keels  of  Norse  ships  were  sometimes  fitted  with 
iron  “shoes”  at  bow  and  stern,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  this 
practice  much  antedated  the  year  1000,  and  thus  this  line  has 
raised  some  question  as  to  the  antiquity  of  this  stanza,  if  not  of 
the  entire  Hrimg ertharmol,  which  may  have  been  composed  as 
late  as  the  eleventh  century. 

15.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  The  pun 
on  “Atli”  and  “atall”  (meaning  “ill”)  is  untranslatable. 

[279  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Nine  miles  deeper  down  mayst  thou  sink, 
And  a  tree  grow  tall  on  thy  bosom.” 


Hrimgerth  spake: 

17.  “Hrimgerth  am  I,  my  father  was  Hati, 

Of  giants  the  most  in  might ; 

Many  a  woman  he  won  from  her  home, 

Ere  Helgi  hewed  him  down.” 

Atli  spake: 

18.  “Witch,  in  front  of  the  ship  thou  wast, 

And  lay  before  the  fjord; 

To  Ron  wouldst  have  given  the  ruler’s  men, 

If  a  spear  had  not  stuck  in  thy  flesh.” 

Hrimgerth  spake: 

19.  “Dull  art  thou,  Atli,  thou  dreamest,  methinks, 

The  lids  lie  over  thine  eyes ; 

By  the  leader’s  ships  my  mother  lay, 
Hlothvarth’s  sons  on  the  sea  I  slew. 


17.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker. 

18.  From  this  point  to  the  end  the  manuscript  does  not  indicate 
the  speakers.  Ron:  wife  of  the  sea-god  Ægir,  who  draws  drown¬ 
ing  men  into  the  sea  with  her  net.  There  is  no  other  reference  to 
the  wounding  of  Hrimgerth. 

19.  Apparently  both  Hrimgerth  and  her  mother,  Hati’s  wife, 
had  sought  to  destroy  Helgi’s  ships,  and  had  actually  killed  some 
of  his  companions,  the  sons  of  Hlotbvarth,  concerning  whom 
nothing  more  is  known.  Many  editors  assume  that  a  stanza 
containing  a  speech  by  Atli  has  been  lost  after  stanza  19. 

[280  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

20.  “Thou  wouldst  neigh,  Atli,  but  gelded  thou  art, 

See,  Hrimgerth  hoists  her  tail; 

In  thy  hinder  end  is  thy  heart,  methinks, 

Though  thy  speech  is  a  stallion’s  cry.” 

Atli  spake: 

21.  “A  stallion  I  seem  if  thou  seekest  to  try  me, 

And  I  leap  to  land  from  the  sea; 

I  shall  smite  thee  to  bits,  if  so  I  will, 

And  heavy  sinks  Hrimgerth’s  tail.” 

Hrimgerth  spake: 

22.  “Go  ashore  then,  Atli,  if  sure  of  thy  might, 

Let  us  come  to  Varin’s  cove; 

Straight  shall  thy  rounded  ribs  be  made 
If  thou  comest  within  my  claws.” 

Atli  spake : 

2 3.  “I  will  not  go  till  the  warriors  wake, 

Again  their  chief  to  guard; 

I  should  wonder  not,  foul  witch,  if  up 
From  beneath  our  keel  thou  shouldst  come.” 

Hrimgerth  spake: 

24.  “Awake  now,  Helgi,  and  Hrimgerth  requite, 

That  Hati  to  death  thou  didst  hew; 


20.  Apparently  Hrimgerth  has  assumed  the  form  of  a  mare. 
22.  Varin’s  cove:  the  name  of  Varin  appears  twice  in  place 
names  in  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I  (stanzas  27  and  39). 
The  sagas  mention  a  mythical  King  Varin  who  lived  at  Skoru- 
strond  in  Rogaland  (Norway). 

[281] 


Poetic  Edda 


If  a  single  night  she  can  sleep  by  the  prince, 

Then  requited  are  all  her  ills.” 

Helgi  spake: 

25.  “  ’Tis  Lothin  shall  have  thee, —  thou’rt  loath¬ 

some  to  men, — 

His  home  in  Tholley  he  has; 

Of  the  wild-dwellers  worst  is  the  giant  wise, 

He  is  meet  as  a  mate  for  thee.” 

Hrimgerth  spake: 

26.  “More  thou  lovest  her  who  scanned  the  harbor, 

Last  night  among  the  men; 

(The  gold-decked  maid  bore  magic,  methinks, 
When  the  land  from  the  sea  she  sought, 

And  fast  she  kept  your  fleet;) 

She  alone  is  to  blame  that  I  may  not  bring 
Death  to  the  monarch’s  men.” 

Helgi  spake: 

27.  “Hrimgerth,  mark,  if  thy  hurts  I  requite, 

Tell  now  the  truth  to  the  king; 


25.  Of  the  giant  Lothin  (“The  Shaggy”)  and  his  home  in 
Tholley  (“Pine  Island”)  nothing  is  known.  Cf.  Skirnismol,  35. 

26.  Something  is  clearly  wrong  with  this  stanza,  and  the 
manuscript  indicates  line  6  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  one. 
Perhaps  a  line  (between  lines  4  and  5)  has  been  lost,  or  perhaps 
the  lines  in  parenthesis  are  interpolations.  Hrimgerth  here  refers 
to  Svava,  or  to  the  protectress  with  whom  the  annotator  has 
identified  her,  as  having  saved  Helgi  and  his  ships  from  the 
vengeance  of  the  giantesses.  In  the  original  line  1  includes  Helgi’s 
name,  which  makes  it  metrically  incorrect. 

[  282  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

Was  there  one  who  the  ships  of  the  warrior 
warded, 

Or  did  many  together  go?” 

Hrimgerth  spake: 

28.  “Thrice  nine  there  were,  but  one  rode  first, 

A  helmed  maid  white  of  hue; 

Their  horses  quivered,  there  came  from  their 
manes 

Dew  in  the  dales  so  deep, 

(Hail  on  the  woods  so  high, 

Thence  men  their  harvest  have, 

But  ill  was  the  sight  I  saw.)” 

Atli  spake: 

29.  “Look  eastward,  Hrimgerth,  for  Helgi  has  struck 

thee 

Down  with  the  runes  of  death  ; 

Safe  in  harbor  floats  the  prince’s  fleet, 

And  safe  are  the  monarch’s  men.” 

Helgi  spake : 

30.  “It  is  day,  Hrimgerth,  for  Atli  held  thee 

Till  now  thy  life  thou  must  lose ; 


28.  Again  something  is  clearly  wrong,  and  the  last  three  lines 
look  like  interpolations,  though  some  editors  have  tried  to  recon¬ 
struct  two  full  stanzas.  The  passage  suggests  the  identification 
of  the  Valkyries  with  the  clouds. 

29.  Some  editions  give  this  speech  to  Helgi.  Eastward:  Atli 
and  Helgi  have  held  Hrimgerth  in  talk  till  sunrise,  and  the 
sun’s  rays  turn  her  into  stone.  But  dwarfs  rather  than  giants 
were  the  victims  of  sunlight;  cf.  A Ivissmol,  stanzas  16  and  35. 

[  283  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


As  a  harbor  mark  men  shall  mock  at  thee, 
Where  in  stone  thou  shalt  ever  stand.” 


(IV) 

King  Helgi  was  a  mighty  warrior.  He  came  to  King 
Eylimi  and  sought  the  hand  of  his  daughter,  Svava.  Then 
Helgi  and  Svava  exchanged  vows,  and  greatly  they  loved 
each  other.  Svava  was  at  home  with  her  father,  while 
Helgi  was  in  the  field;  Svava  was  still  a  Valkyrie  as 
before. 

Hethin  was  at  home  with  his  father,  King  Hjorvarth, 
in  Norway.  Hethin  was  coming  home  alone  from  the 
forest  one  Yule-eve,  and  found  a  troll-woman;  she  rode 


30.  Most  editions  give  this  stanza  to  Atli.  With  this  the 
Hrimgertharmol  ends,  and  after  the  next  prose  passage  the 
meter  reverts  to  that  of  the  earlier  sections. 

Prose.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  a  new  section  of 
the  poem.  Eylimi:  cf.  note  on  prose  after  stanza  9.  Valkyrie: 
here,  as  before,  the  annotator  has  apparently  nothing  but  his 
own  imagination  on  which  to  base  his  statement.  Svava  in  the 
ensuing  stanzas  certainly  does  not  behave  like  a  Valkyrie. 
Norway:  the  annotator  doubtless  based  this  statement  on  the 
reference  to  Norway  in  line  2  of  stanza  31.  Yule-eve:  the  Yule 
feast,  marking  the  new  year,  was  a  great  event  in  the  heathen 
North.  It  was  a  time  of  feasting  and  merrymaking,  vows 
(“New  Year’s  resolutions”),  ghosts  and  witches;  the  spirits  had 
their  greatest  power  on  Yule-eve.  The  king’s  toast:  vows  made 
at  the  passing  of  the  king’s  cup  at  the  Yule  feast  were  particu¬ 
larly  sacred.  Sacred  hoar:  a  boar  consecrated  to  Freyr,  an 
integral  part  of  the  Yule  rites.  Hethin’s  vow,  which  is,  of 
course,  the  vengeance  of  the  troll-woman,  is  too  sacred  to  be 
broken,  but  he  immediately  realizes  the  horror  of  his  oath. 

[284] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

on  a  wolf,  and  had  snakes  in  place  of  a  bridle.  She  asked 
Hethin  for  his  company.  “Nay,”  said  he.  She  said, 
“Thou  shalt  pay  for  this  at  the  king’s  toast.”  That  even¬ 
ing  the  great  vows  were  taken;  the  sacred  boar  was 
brought  in,  the  men  laid  their  hands  thereon,  and  took 
their  vows  at  the  king’s  toast.  Hethin  vowed  that  he 
would  have  Svava,  Eylimi’s  daughter,  the  beloved  of  his 
brother  Helgi ;  then  such  great  grief  seized  him  that  he 
went  forth  on  wild  paths  southward  over  the  land,  and 
found  Helgi,  his  brother.  Helgi  said : 


31.  “Welcome,  Hethin!  what  hast  thou  to  tell 
Of  tidings  new  that  from  Norway  come? 
Wherefore  didst  leave  thy  land,  O  prince, 
And  fared  alone  to  find  us  here?” 


Hethin  spake: 

32.  “A  deed  more  evil 
Than,  brother  mine, 
For  I  have  chosen 
Thy  bride,  for  mine 


I  have  done 
thou  e’er  canst  mend ; 
the  child  of  the  king, 
at  the  monarch’s  toast.” 


31.  From  Norway:  Bugge  uses  this  phrase  as  evidence  that 
the  poem  was  composed  in  one  of  the  Icelandic  settlements  of  the 
western  islands,  but  as  the  annotator  himself  seems  to  have 
thought  that  Hethin  came  to  Helgi  by  land  (“on  wild  paths 
southward”),  this  argument  does  not  appear  to  have  much 
weight. 

32.  The  second  line  is  conjectural;  a  line  has  clearly  been 
lost  from  this  stanza,  and  various  emendations  have  been  sug¬ 
gested. 


[  285  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Helgi  spake : 

33.  “Grieve  not,  Hethin, 

The  words  we  both 
To  the  isle  a  warrior 
(There  shall  I  come 
And  doubtful  must  be 
(So  may  all  be  well, 

Hethin  spake: 

34.  “Thou  saidst  once,  Helgi,  that  Hethin  was 

A  friend  full  good,  and  gifts  didst  give  him; 
More  seemly  it  were  thy  sword  to  redden, 

Than  friendship  thus  to  thy  foe  to  give.” 

Helgi  spoke  thus  because  he  foresaw  his  death,  for  his 
following-spirits  had  met  Hethin  when  he  saw  the  woman 
riding  on  the  wolf.  Alf  was  the  name  of  a  king,  the  son 
of  Hrothmar,  who  had  marked  out  a  battle-place  with 


33.  Perhaps  this  is  the  remnant  of  two  stanzas,  or  perhaps 
two  lines  (probably  the  ones  in  parenthesis)  have  been  interpo¬ 
lated.  The  isle:  duels  were  commonly  fought  on  islands,  probably 
to  guard  against  treacherous  interference,  whence  the  usual  name 
for  a  duel  was  “isle-going.”  A  duel  was  generally  fought  three 
days  after  the  challenge.  Reckoning  the  lapse  of  time  by  nights 
instead  of  days  was  a  common  practice  throughout  the  German 
and  Scandinavian  peoples. 

Prose.  Some  editors  place  all  or  part  of  this  prose  passage 
after  stanza  35.  F olloiving- spirit s :  the  “fylgja”  was  a  female 
guardian  spirit  whose  appearance  generally  betokened  death. 
The  belief  was  common  throughout  the  North,  and  has  come 
down  to  recent  times  in  Scottish  and  Irish  folk-lore.  Individuals 
and  sometimes  whole  families  had  these  following-spirits,  but 
it  was  most  unusual  for  a  person  to  have  more  than  one  of  them. 
Alf:  son  of  the  Hrothmar  who  killed  Helgi’s  grandfather,  and 

[286] 


for  true  shall  hold 
by  the  beer  have  sworn ; 
wills  that  I  go, 
the  third  night  hence;) 

my  coming  back, 
if  fate  so  wills.)” 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

Helgi  at  Sigarsvoll  after  a  stay  of  three  nights.  Then 
Helgi  spake: 

35.  “On  a  wolf  there  rode,  when  dusk  it  was, 

A  woman  who  fain  would  have  him  follow; 
Well  she  knew  that  now  would  fall 
Sigrlin’s  son  at  Sigarsvoll. ” 

There  was  a  great  battle,  and  there  Helgi  got  a  mor- 
tal  wound. 

36.  Sigar  riding  did  Helgi  send 

To  seek  out  Eylimi’s  only  daughter: 

“Bid  her  swiftly  ready  to  be, 

If  her  lover  alive  she  would  find.” 

Sigar  spake: 

37.  “Hither  now  has  Helgi  sent  me, 

With  thee,  Svava,  thyself  to  speak; 

The  hero  said  he  fain  would  see  thee 
Ere  life  the  nobly  born  should  leave.” 

Svava  spake: 

38.  “What  chanced  with  Helgi,  Hjorvarth’s  son? 
Hard  to  me  is  harm  now  come; 

If  the  sea  smote  him,  or  sword  bit  him, 

Ill  shall  I  bring  to  all  his  foes.” 

who  was  in  turn  later  killed  by  Helgi.  Sigarsvoll  (“Sigar’s 
Field”):  cf.  stanza  8  and  note;  the  Sigar  in  question  may  be 
the  man  who  appears  as  Helgi’s  messenger  in  stanzas  36-39. 
36.  Sigar  (“The  Victorious”)  :  cf.  the  foregoing  note. 

[  287  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sigar  spake: 

39.  “In  the  morn  he  fell  at  Frekastein, 

The  king  who  was  noblest  beneath  the  sun ; 
Alf  has  the  joy  of  victory  all, 

Though  need  therefor  is  never  his.” 


Helgi  spake: 

40.  “Hail  to  thee,  Svava!  thy  sorrow  rule, 
Our  meeting  last  in  life  is  this; 


Hard  the  wounds 
And  close  to  my  heart 

41.  “I  bid  thee,  Svava, — 
If  thou  wilt  hearken 
The  bed  for  Hethin 
And  yield  thy  love 


of  the  hero  bleed, 

the  sword  has  come. 

weep  not,  bride, — 
to  these  my  words, 
have  thou  ready, 
to  the  hero  young.” 


Svava  spake: 

42.  “A  vow  I  had  in  my  dear-loved  home, 

When  Helgi  sought  with  rings  to  have  me, 
That  not  of  my  will,  if  the  warrior  died, 
Would  I  fold  in  my  arms  a  man  unfamed.” 

Hethin  spake: 

43.  “Kiss  me,  Svava,  I  come  not  back, 


39.  Frekastein  (“Wolf-Crag”)  :  the  name  appears  several 
times  in  the  Helgi  lays  applied  to  battlefields;  cf.  Helgakvitha 
Hundingshana  I,  46  and  55,  and  II,  18  and  24.  Need:  i.  e.,  Alf 
deserves  no  credit  for  the  victory,  which  was  due  to  the  troll- 
woman’s  magic. 


[  288  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar 

Rogheim  to  see,  or  Rothulsfjoll, 

Till  vengeance  I  have  for  the  son  of  Hjorvarth, 
The  king  who  was  noblest  beneath  the  sun.” 

Of  Helgi  and  Svava  it  is  said  that  they  were  born  again. 


41.  One  or  two  editors  ascribe  this  stanza  to  Hethin. 

43.  A  few  editions  make  the  extraordinary  blunder  of  ascrib¬ 
ing  this  speech  to  the  dying  Helgi.  The  point,  of  course,  is  that 
Hethin  will  satisfy  Svava’s  vow  by  becoming  famous  as  the 
slayer  of  Alf.  Rogheim  (“Home  of  Battle”)  and  Rothulsfjoll 
(“Sun-Mountain”):  nowhere  else  mentioned;  Hethin  means 
simply  that  he  will  not  come  back  to  Svava  till  he  has  won  fame. 

Prose.  Regarding  this  extraordinary  bit  see  the  prose  note  at 
the  end  of  Helgakvitha  Hundingshana  II.  Gering  thinks  the 
reborn  Helgi  Hjorvarthsson  was  Helgi  Hundingsbane,  while 
Svava,  according  to  the  annotator  himself,  became  Sigrun.  The 
point  seems  to  be  simply  that  there  were  so  many  Helgi  stories 
current,  and  the  hero  died  in  so  many  irreconcilable  ways,  that 
tradition  had  to  have  him  born  over  again,  not  once  only  but 
several  times,  to  accommodate  his  many  deaths,  and  to  avoid 
splitting  him  up  into  several  Helgis.  Needless  to  say,  the  poems 
themselves  know  nothing  of  this  rebirth,  and  we  owe  the  sugges¬ 
tion  entirely  to  the  annotator,  who  probably  got  it  from  current 
tradition. 


[289  ] 


HELGAKVITHA  HUNDINGSBANA  I 

The  First  Lay  of  Helgi  Hundingsbane 

Introductory  Note 

The  general  subject  of  the  Helgi  lays  is  considered  in  the 
introduction  to  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  and  it  is  needless 
here  to  repeat  the  statements  there  made.  The  first  lay  of  Helgi 
Hundingsbane  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  latest  of  the  Eddie 
poems,  and  was  composed  probably  not  earlier  than  the  second 
quarter  of  the  eleventh  century.  It  presents  several  unusual 
characteristics.  For  one  thing,  it  is  among  the  few  essentially 
narrative  poems  in  the  whole  collection,  telling  a  consecutive 
story  in  verse,  and,  except  for  the  abusive  dialogue  between 
Sinfjotli  and  Gothmund,  which  clearly  was  based  on  another 
and  older  poem,  it  does  so  with  relatively  little  use  of  dialogue. 
It  is,  in  fact,  a  ballad,  and  in  the  main  an  exceedingly  vigorous 
one.  The  annotator,  who  added  his  prose  narrative  notes  so 
freely  in  the  other  Helgi  poems,  here  found  nothing  to  do.  The 
available  evidence  indicates  that  narrative  verse  was  a  relatively 
late  development  in  Old  Norse  poetry,  and  it  is  significant  that 
most  of  the  poems  which  consist  chiefly,  not  of  dialogue,  but  of 
narrative  stanzas,  such  as  the  first  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay  and 
the  two  Atli  lays,  can  safely  be  dated,  on  the  basis  of  other 
evidence,  after  the  year  1000. 

The  first  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay  is  again  differentiated 
from  most  of  the  Eddie  poems  by  the  character  of  its  language. 
It  is  full  of  those  verbal  intricacies  which  were  the  delight  of 
the  Norse  skalds,  and  which  made  Snorri’s  dictionary  of  poetic 
phrases  an  absolute  necessity.  Many  of  these  I  have  paraphrased 
in  the  translation;  some  I  have  simplified  or  wholly  avoided. 
A  single  line  will  serve  to  indicate  the  character  of  this  form 
of  complex  diction  (stanza  56,  line  4)  :  “And  the  horse  of  the 
giantess  raven’s-food  had.”  This  means  simply  that  wolves 
(giantesses  habitually  rode  on  wolves)  ate  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 

Except  for  its  intricacies  of  diction,  and  the  possible  loss 
of  a  stanza  here  and  there,  the  poem  is  comparatively  simple. 
The  story  belongs  in  all  its  essentials  to  the  Helgi  tradition, 
with  the  Volsung  cycle  brought  in  only  to  the  extent  of  making 
Helgi  the  son  of  Sigmund,  and  in  the  introduction  of  Sinfjotli, 
son  of  Sigmund  and  his  sister  Signy,  in  a  passage  which  has 

[  290  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

little  or  nothing  to  do  with  the  course  of  the  narrative,  and 
which  looks  like  an  expansion  of  a  passage  from  some  older 
poem,  perhaps  from  the  “old  Volsung  lay”  to  which  the  annotator 
of  the  second  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay  refers  (prose  after  stanza 
12).  There  are  many  proper  names,  some  of  which  betray 
the  confusion  caused  by  the  blending  of  the  two  sets  of  traditions ; 
for  example,  Helgi  appears  indiscriminately  as  an  Ylfing 
(which  presumably  he  was  before  the  Volsung  story  became 
involved)  and  as  a  Volsung.  Granmar  and  his  sons  are  called 
Hniflungs  (Nibelungen)  in  stanza  50,  though  they  seem  to  have 
had  no  connection  with  this  race.  The  place  names  have  aroused 
much  debate  as  to  the  localization  of  the  action,  but  while  some 
of  them  probably  reflect  actual  places,  there  is  so  much  geo¬ 
graphical  confusion,  and  such  a  profusion  of  names  which  are 
almost  certainly  mythical,  that  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  poet 
had  any  definite  locations  in  mind. 


1.  In  olden  days,  when  eagles  screamed, 

And  holy  streams  from  heaven’s  crags  fell, 

Was  Helgi  then,  the  hero-hearted, 

Borghild’s  son,  in  Bralund  born. 

2.  ’Twas  night  in  the  dwelling,  and  Norns  there 

came, 

Who  shaped  the  life  of  the  lofty  one; 

They  bade  him  most  famed  of  fighters  all 
And  best  of  princes  ever  to  be. 


1.  The  manuscript  contains  the  superscription:  “Here  begins 
the  lay  of  Helgi  Hundingbane  and  h.  (Hothbrodd  ?)  The  lay 
of  the  Volsungs.”  Eagles,  etc.:  the  screaming  of  eagles  and  water 
pouring  from  heaven  were  portents  of  the  birth  of  a  hero. 
Borghild:  Sigmund’s  first  wife;  Bralund  was  her  home,  not 
Sigmund’s. 

2.  Norns:  cf.  Voluspo,  20  and  note.  Here  it  is  the  Norns  who 

[291  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


3.  Mightily  wove  they  the  web  of  fate, 

While  Bralund’s  towns  were  trembling  all; 

And  there  the  golden  threads  they  wove, 

And  in  the  moon’s  hall  fast  they  made  them. 

4.  East  and  west  the  ends  they  hid, 

In  the  middle  the  hero  should  have  his  land ; 

And  Neri’s  kinswoman  northward  cast 
A  chain,  and  bade  it  firm  ever  to  be. 

5.  Once  sorrow  had  the  Ylfings’  son, 

And  grief  the  bride  who  the  loved  one  had  borne. 

\t*  'J'  ^  4» 

7p  Vf»  A  Vx* 

Quoth  raven  to  raven,  on  treetop  resting, 
Seeking  for  food,  “There  is  something  I  know. 


preside  over  Helgi’s  early  destiny,  and  not  a  Valkyrie,  as  in 
Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar. 

3.  Line  2  is  largely  guesswork,  the  manuscript  being  obscure. 
Moon’s  hall:  the  sky. 

4.  East,  etc.:  the  Norns  give  Helgi  fame  in  the  East,  West, 
and  North;  in  the  North  his  renown  is  particularly  to  endure. 
This  suggests  that  the  poet  was  aware  of  the  spread  of  the 
Helgi  story  over  many  lands.  Neri’s  kinswoman:  evidently  one 
of  the  Norns,  but  nothing  further  is  known  of  Neri,  and  the 
word  may  not  be  a  proper  name  at  all. 

5.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  it  looks  as  though 
something  had  been  lost  after  line  2.  Ylfings ’  son:  Sigmund  is 
evidently  meant,  though  calling  him  an  Ylfing  (cf.  Hyndluljoth, 
11  and  note)  is  a  manifest  error.  Helgi,  in  the  tradition  as  it 
came  from  Denmark,  was  undoubtedly  an  Ylfing,  and  the  poet, 
in  order  to  combine  the  two  legends,  has  to  treat  the  Ylfings  and 
Volsungs  as  if  they  were  the  same  family. 

[  292  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

6.  “In  mail-coat  stands  the  son  of  Sigmund, 

A  half-day  old ;  now  day  is  here  ; 

His  eyes  flash  sharp  as  the  heroes’  are, 

He  is  friend  of  the  wolves;  full  glad  are  we.” 

7.  The  warrior  throng  a  ruler  thought  him, 

Good  times,  they  said,  mankind  should  see; 

The  king  himself  from  battle-press  came, 

To  give  the  prince  a  leek  full  proud. 

8.  Helgi  he  named  him,  and  Hringstathir  gave  him, 

Solfjoll,  Snæfjoll,  and  Sigarsvoll, 

Hringstoth,  Hotun,  and  Himinvangar, 

And  a  blood-snake  bedecked  to  Sinfjotli’s  brother. 


6.  Sigmund:  the  chief  link  between  the  Helgi  and  Sigurth 
stories.  He  was  the  son  of  Volsung,  great-grandson  of  Othin. 
His  children  by  his  first  wife,  Borghild,  were  Helgi  and  Hamund 
(belonging  to  the  Helgi  cycle)  ;  his  son  by  his  second  wife, 
Hjordis,  was  Sigurth.  An  incestuous  connection  with  his  sister, 
Signy  (cf.  Wagner’s  Siegmund  and  Sieglinde)  resulted  in  the 
birth  of  Sinfjotli  (cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  note). 

7.  The  king:  Sigmund,  who  gives  his  son  a  symbol  of  the 
lands  which  he  bestows  on  him.  Regarding  the  leek,  cf.  Voluspo, 
4;  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  17,  and  Sigrdrifumol,  7. 

8.  Hringstathir  (“Ring-Stead”)  :  quite  possibly  the  historical 
Ringsted,  long  a  possession  of  the  Danish  kings,  and  thus  a  relic 
of  the  old  Helgi  tradition.  Hringstoth  may  be  another  form  of  the 
same  name.  Solfjoll  (“Sun-Mountain”)  and  Snœfjoll  (“Snow- 
Mountain”)  are  fictitious  names.  Regarding  Sigarsvoll  cf.  Hel¬ 
gakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  stanzas  8  and  35.  Saxo  mentions  a 
Danish  king  named  Sigar,  and  the  frequency  with  which  the  name 
appears  in  the  Helgi  poems  may  be  taken  as  a  reminiscence  of 
Denmark.  Hotun  (“High  Place”)  :  possibly  the  village  of  Tune  in 
Seeland.  Himinvangar  (“Heaven’s  Field”)  :  an  imaginary  place. 
Blood-snake :  a  sword.  Sinfjotli:  cf.  note  on  stanza  6. 

[  293  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


9.  Mighty  he  grew  in  the  midst  of  his  friends, 


The  fair-born  elm, 

To  his  comrades  gold 
The  hero  spared  not 

10.  Short  time  for  war 
When  fifteen  winters 
Hunding  he  slew, 
Who  long  had  ruled 


in  fortune’s  glow; 
he  gladly  gave, 
the  blood-flecked  hoard. 

the  chieftain  waited, 
old  he  was ; 
the  hardy  wight 

o’er  lands  and  men. 


11.  Of  Sigmund’s  son  then  next  they  sought 
Hoard  and  rings,  the  sons  of  Hunding; 
They  bade  the  prince  requital  pay 
For  booty  stolen  and  father  slain. 


12.  The  prince  let  not  their  prayers  avail, 

Nor  gold  for  their  dead  did  the  kinsmen  get; 
Waiting,  he  said,  was  a  mighty  storm 
Of  lances  gray  and  Othin’s  grimness. 


13.  The  warriors  forth  to  the  battle  went, 
The  field  they  chose  at  Logafjoll; 


9.  Elm:  a  not  uncommon  word  for  “man.”  Blood-flecked:  i.e., 
won  in  battle. 

10.  Fifteen:  until  early  in  the  eleventh  century  a  Norwegian 
or  Icelandic  boy  became  “of  age”  at  twelve,  and  Maurer  cites 
this  passage  as  added  proof  of  the  poem’s  lateness.  Hunding: 
the  annotator  (introductory  prose  to  Helgakvitha  Hunding sbana 
II)  calls  him  king  of  Hundland,  which  shows  no  great  origi¬ 
nality.  Saxo  mentions  a  Hunding  who  was  a  Saxon  king  ruling 
in  Jutland,  probably  the  origin  of  Helgi’s  traditional  foe. 

12.  Storm,  etc.:  war. 

13.  Logafjoll  (“Flame-Mountain”)  :  a  mythical  name.  Frothi: 

[294  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

Frothi’s  peace  midst  foes  they  broke, 

Through  the  isle  went  hungrily  Vithrir’s  hounds. 

14.  The  king  then  sat,  when  he  had  slain 
Eyjolf  and  Alf,  ’neath  the  eagle-stone; 

Hjorvarth  and  Hovarth,  Hunding’s  sons, 

The  kin  of  the  spear-wielder,  all  had  he  killed. 

15.  Then  glittered  light  from  Logafjoll, 

And  from  the  light  the  flashes  leaped; 


16 .  . 

High  under  helms  on  heaven’s  field ; 

Their  byrnies  all  with  blood  were  red, 

And  from  their  spears  the  sparks  flew  forth. 


a  traditional  king  of  Denmark,  whose  peaceful  reign  was  so 
famous  that  “Frothi’s  peace”  became  a  by-word  for  peace  of 
any  kind.  Vithrir’s  hounds:  wolves;  Vithrir  is  Othin,  and  his 
hounds  are  the  wolves  Freki  and  Geri. 

14.  In  this  poem  Helgi  kills  all  the  sons  of  Hunding,  but  in 
the  poems  of  the  Sigurth  cycle,  and  the  prose  notes  attached 
thereto,  Sigmund  and  his  father-in-law,  Eylimi,  are  killed  by 
Hunding’s  sons,  on  whom  Sigurth  subsequently  takes  vengeance 
(cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  Reg'insmol) . 

15.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but  almost  certainly 
something  has  been  lost  mentioning  more  specifically  the  coming 
of  the  Valkyries.  The  lightning  which  accompanies  them  suggests 
again  their  identification  with  the  clouds  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjor- 
•varthssonar,  28). 

16.  Some  editions  fill  out  the  first  line:  “He  saw  there  mighty 
maidens  riding.”  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  a  new  stanza. 


[  295  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


17.  Early  then  in  wolf-wood  asked 

The  mighty  king  of  the  southern  maid, 

If  with  the  hero  home  would  she 
Come  that  night;  the  weapons  clashed. 

18.  Down  from  her  horse  sprang  Hogni’s  daugh¬ 

ter, — 

The  shields  were  still, —  and  spake  to  the  hero : 

“Other  tasks  are  ours,  methinks, 

Than  drinking  beer  with  the  breaker  of  rings. 

19.  “My  father  has  pledged  his  daughter  fair 
As  bride  to  Granmar’s  son  so  grim ; 

But,  Helgi,  I  once  Hothbrodd  called 

As  fine  a  king  as  the  son  of  a  cat. 


17.  Wolf-wood:  dark  forest;  the  original  word  is  not  alto¬ 
gether  clear.  Southern:  this  variety  of  Valkyrie,  like  the  swan- 
maidens  of  the  Volundarkvitha,  was  clearly  regarded  as  of 
southern  (i.e.,  German)  origin.  Here  again  there  is  a  confusion 
of  traditions;  the  Valkyries  of  the  Voluspo  were  as  essentially 
Norse  as  any  part  of  the  older  mythology.  I  doubt  if  a  poet  much 
earlier  than  the  author  of  the  first  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay 
would  have  made  his  Sigrun,  daughter  of  Hogni,  a  Valkyrie. 
It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  same  complication  appears  in  the 
Sigurth  story,  where  the  undoubted  Valkyrie,  Brynhild-Sigrdrifa 
(the  latter  name  is  really  only  an  epithet)  is  hopelessly  mixed 
up  with  the  quite  human  Brynhild,  daughter  of  Buthli. 

18.  Breaker  of  rings:  generous  prince,  because  the  breaking 
of  rings  was  the  customary  form  of  distributing  gold. 

19.  Granmar:  the  annotator  gives  an  account  of  him  and  his 
family  in  the  prose  following  stanza  12  of  Helgakvitha  Hund- 
ingshana  II. 

20.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  some  editors  combine 
the  stanza  with  the  fragmentary  stanza  21,  and  others  fill  in 
with  “And  home  will  carry  Hogni’s  daughter.” 

[296] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

20.  “Yet  the  hero  will  come  a  few  nights  hence, 

Unless  thou  dost  bid  him  the  battle-ground  seek, 
Or  takest  the  maid  from  the  warrior  mighty.” 


Helgi  spake: 

21.  “Fear  him  not,  though  Isung  he  felled, 

First  must  our  courage  keen  be  tried, 

Before  unwilling  thou  fare  with  the  knave ; 
Weapons  will  clash,  if  to  death  I  come  not.” 

22.  Messengers  sent  the  mighty  one  then, 

By  land  and  by  sea,  a  host  to  seek, 

Store  of  wealth  of  the  water’s  gleam, 

And  men  to  summon,  and  sons  of  men. 

23.  “Bid  them  straightway  seek  the  ships, 

And  off  Brandey  ready  to  be!” 

There  the  chief  waited  till  thither  were  come 
Men  by  hundreds  from  Hethinsey. 


zi.  The  manuscript  has  only  lines  1  and  4  with  the  word 
“first”  of  line  2,  and  does  not  indicate  Helgi  as  the  speaker. 
The  V  olsungasaga,  which  follows  this  poem  pretty  closely,  ex¬ 
pands  Helgi’s  speech,  and  lines  2-3  are  conjectural  versifications 
of  the  saga’s  prose.  Isung:  nothing  is  known  of  him  beyond  the 
fact,  here  indicated,  that  Hothbrodd  killed  him. 

22.  Water’s  gleam:  gold. 

23.  Brandey  (“Brand-Isle”)  :  not  mentioned  elsewhere.  Heth¬ 
insey  (“Hethin’s  Isle”) :  possibly  the  island  of  Hiddensee,  east 
of  Riigen. 


[  297  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


24.  Soon  off  Stafnsnes  stood  the  ships, 

Fair  they  glided  and  gay  with  gold; 

Then  Helgi  spake  to  Hjorleif  asking: 

“Hast  thou  counted  the  gallant  host?” 

25.  The  young  king  answered  the  other  then: 
“Long  were  it  to  tell  from  Tronueyr 

The  long-stemmed  ships  with  warriors  laden 
That  come  from  without  into  Orvasund. 


26 .  . .  . 

“There  are  hundreds  twelve  of  trusty  men, 
But  in  Hotun  lies  the  host  of  the  king, 
Greater  by  half;  I  have  hope  of  battle.” 

27.  The  ship’s-tents  soon  the  chieftain  struck, 
And  waked  the  throng  of  warriors  all ; 


24.  Stafnsnes  (“Steersman’s  Cape”)  :  an  unidentifiable  prom¬ 
ontory.  Fair:  a  guess,  as  the  adjective  in  the  manuscript  is 
obscure.  Hjorleif  does  not  appear  elsewhere,  and  seems  to  be 
simply  one  of  Helgi’s  lieutenants. 

25.  Tronueyr:  “Crane-Strand.”  Long-stemmed:  literally 
“long-headed,”  as  the  high,  curving  stem  of  a  Norse  ship  was 
often  carved  to  represent  a  head  and  neck.  Orvasund:  almost  cer¬ 
tainly  the  Danish  Öresund,  off  Seeland.  Such  bits  of  geography 
as  this  followed  Helgi  persistently. 

26.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Hotun:  cf.  stanza  8 
and  note. 

27.  Line  3  seems  to  have  been  interpolated  from  line  4  of 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II,  42.  Ship’s-tents :  the  awnings 
spread  over  the  deck  to  shelter  the  crews  from  sun  and  rain  when 
the  ships  were  at  anchor.  V arinsfjord:  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjor- 
varthssonar,  22  and  note. 


[  298  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

(The  heroes  the  red  of  dawn  beheld;) 

And  on  the  masts  the  gallant  men 
Made  fast  the  sails  in  Varinsfjord. 

28.  There  was  beat  of  oars  and  clash  of  iron, 
Shield  smote  shield  as  the  ships’-folk  rowed ; 
Swiftly  went  the  warrior-laden 

Fleet  of  the  ruler  forth  from  the  land. 

29.  So  did  it  sound,  when  together  the  sisters 
Of  Kolga  struck  with  the  keels  full  long, 

As  if  cliffs  were  broken  with  beating  surf, 


30.  Helgi  bade  higher  hoist  the  sails, 

Nor  did  the  ships’-folk  shun  the  waves, 
Though  dreadfully  did  Ægir’s  daughters 
Seek  the  steeds  of  the  sea  to  sink. 

31.  But  from  above  did  Sigrun  brave 
Aid  the  men  and  all  their  faring; 


28.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
new  stanza,  and  some  editions  follow  this  arrangement,  making 
lines  1-2  a  separate  stanza. 

29.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  and  some  editions  com¬ 
bine  the  stanza  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  28.  Sisters  of  Kolga: 
the  waves,  Kolga  (“The  Gold”)  being  one  of  the  daughters  of 
the  sea-god,  Ægir.  As  the  V olsungasaga  says,  “Now  there  was 
a  great  storm.” 

30.  Helgi  demonstrates  his  courage,  whatever  one  may  think 
of  his  seamanship.  Ægir’s  daughters :  the  waves;  cf.  stanza  29 
and  note. 


[  299  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Mightily  came  from  the  claws  of  Ron 
The  leader’s  sea-beast  off  Gnipalund. 

32.  At  evening  there  in  Unavagar 
Floated  the  fleet  bedecked  full  fair; 

But  they  who  saw  from  Svarin’s  hill, 
Bitter  at  heart  the  host  beheld. 

33.  Then  Gothmund  asked,  goodly  of  birth, 

“Who  is  the  monarch  who  guides  the  host, 
And  to  the  land  the  warriors  leads?” 

34.  Sinfjotli  answered,  and  up  on  an  oar 
Raised  a  shield  all  red  with  golden  rim ; 


31.  Sigrun  here  appears  again  as  a  Valkyrie.  Ron:  Ægir’s 
wife;  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  18  and  note.  Sea-beast: 
ship.  Gnipalund:  “Crag-Wood.” 

32.  Unavagar :  “Friendly  Waves.”  Svarin’s  hill:  the  hill 
where  Granmar  had  his  dwelling. 

33.  Here  begins  the  long  dialogue  between  Gothmund,  one 
of  Granmar’s  sons,  and  Sinfjotli,  Helgi’s  half-brother.  Two 
lines  (stanza  33,  lines  3-4)  are  quoted  by  the  annotator  in  the 
prose  note  following  stanza  16  of  the  second  Helgi  Hundings- 
bane  lay,  and  the  dialogue,  in  much  abbreviated  form,  together 
with  Helgi’s  admonition  to  Sinfjotli  to  cease  talking,  is  closely 
paralleled  in  stanzas  22-27  °f  that  poem.  It  has  been  suggested 
that  this  whole  passage  (stanzas  33-48)  is  an  interpolation,  per¬ 
haps  from  “the  Old  Volsung  lay.”  This  may  be,  but  it  seems 
more  probable  that  the  poet  used  an  older  poem  simply  as  the 
basis  for  this  passage,  borrowing  a  little  but  making  up  a  great 
deal  more.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap  in  stanza  33. 

34.  Sinfjotli:  cf.  note  on  stanza  6.  Red:  raising  a  red  shield 
was  the  signal  for  war. 


[  300  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

A  sea-sentry  was  he,  skilled  to  speak, 

And  in  words  with  princes  well  to  strive. 

35.  “Say  tonight  when  you  feed  the  swine, 

And  send  your  bitches  to  seek  their  swill, 

That  out  of  the  East  have  the  Ylfings  come, 
Greedy  for  battle,  to  Gnipalund. 

36.  “There  will  Hothbrodd  Helgi  find, 

In  the  midst  of  the  fleet,  and  flight  he  scorns ; 
Often  has  he  the  eagles  gorged, 

Whilst  thou  at  the  quern  wert  slave-girls  kissing.” 

Gothmund  spake: 

37.  “Hero,  the  ancient  sayings  heed, 

And  bring  not  lies  to  the  nobly  born. 


38.  “Thou  hast  eaten  the  entrails  of  wolves, 
And  of  thy  brothers  the  slayer  been  ; 

Oft  wounds  to  suck  thy  cold  mouth  sought, 
And  loathed  in  rocky  dens  didst  lurk.” 


35.  Ylfings:  cf.  stanza  5  and  note. 

36.  Quern:  turning  the  hand  mill  was,  throughout  antiquity, 
the  task  of  slaves. 

37.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speakers  in  this 
dialogue.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  and  editors  have 
attempted  various  combinations  of  stanzas  37  and  38. 

38.  Wolves:  the  V olsungasaga  tells  that  Sigmund  and  Sinf- 
jotli  lived  in  the  woods  for  a  time  as  werewolves.  Brothers: 

[301  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sinfjotli  spake: 

“A  witch  in  Varin’s  isle  thou  wast, 

A  woman  false,  and  lies  didst  fashion; 

Of  the  mail-clad  heroes  thou  wouldst  have 
No  other,  thou  saidst,  save  Sinfjotli  only. 

“A  Valkyrie  wast  thou,  loathly  witch, 

Evil  and  base,  in  Allfather’s  home; 

The  warriors  all  must  ever  fight, 

Woman  subtle,  for  sake  of  thee. 

<( 


Nine  did  we  in  Sogunes 

Of  wolf-cubs  have ;  I  their  father  was.” 


Sinfjotli  killed  the  two  sons  of  his  mother,  Signy,  and  her  hus¬ 
band,  Siggeir,  as  part  of  the  vengeance  wreaked  on  Siggeir 
for  the  treacherous  murder  of  Sigmund’s  father,  Volsung,  and 
nine  of  his  brothers  (cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  note).  The 
manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza. 

39.  Varin’s  isle:  cf.  stanza  27  and  note,  and  Helgakvitha 
H jorvarthssonar,  22.  Reproaching  a  man  with  having  been  a 
woman  and  borne  children  was  not  uncommon. 

40.  This  stanza  may  be  an  interpolation  in  the  dialogue 
passage.  Allfather :  Othin.  We  have  no  information  regarding 
Gothmund’s  career,  but  it  looks  as  though  Sinfjotli  were  drawing 
solely  on  his  imagination  for  his  taunts,  whereas  Gothmund’s 
insults  have  a  basis  in  Sinfjotli’s  previous  life. 

41.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  some  editors  com¬ 
bine  the  two  lines  with  stanza  40,  some  regard  them  as  the  first 
instead  of  the  last  lines  of  a  separate  stanza,  and  some  assume 
the  lacuna  here  indicated.  Sogunes  (“Saga’s  Cape”)  :  of  the  god¬ 
dess  Saga  little  is  known;  cf.  Grimnismol,  7. 

[  302  ] 


39. 


40. 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

Gothmund  spake: 

42.  “Thou  didst  not  father  Fenrir’s- wolves, 

Though  older  thou  art  than  all  I  know ; 

For  they  gelded  thee  in  Gnipalund, 

The  giant-women  at  Thorsnes  once. 

43.  “Under  houses  the  stepson  of  Siggeir  lay, 

Fain  of  the  wolf’s  cry  out  in  the  woods; 

Evil  came  then  all  to  thy  hands, 

When  thy  brothers’  breasts  thou  didst  redden, 
Fame  didst  thou  win  for  foulest  deeds. 

44.  “In  Bravoll  wast  thou  Grani’s  bride, 
Golden-bitted  and  ready  to  gallop; 

I  rode  thee  many  a  mile,  and  down 
Didst  sink,  thou  giantess,  under  the  saddle.” 

Sinfjotli  spake : 

45.  “A  brainless  fellow  didst  seem  to  be, 

When  once  for  Gollnir  goats  didst  milk, 


42.  F  enrir’ s -wolves :  wolves  in  general.  Thorsnes:  “Thor’s 
Cape.” 

43.  The  phrase  “under  houses,”  which  follows  the  manuscript, 
may  be  an  error  for  “in  wolf-caves.”  Line  3  (or  4)  may  be  an 
interpolation.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  5  as  the  beginning 
of  a  new  stanza.  Siggeir:  cf.  stanza  38,  note. 

44.  Several  editions  assign  this  stanza  to  Sinfjotli  instead  of 
to  Gothmund.  Bravoll  (“Field  of  the  Brow”)  :  not  elsewhere  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  poems.  Grani:  Sigurth’s  horse  (cf.  Völundarkvitha, 
16  and  note)  ;  Gothmund  means  that  Sinfjotli  had  turned  into  a 
mare,  after  the  fashion  of  Loki  (cf.  Grimnismol,  44,  note).  The 
meaning  of  line  4  in  the  original  is  uncertain. 

45.  A  few  editions  give  this  stanza  to  Gothmund.  Gollnir: 

[  303  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  another  time  when  as  Imth’s  daughter 
In  rags  thou  wentest;  wilt  longer  wrangle?” 

Gothmund  spake: 

46.  “Sooner  would  I  at  Frekastein 
Feed  the  ravens  with  flesh  of  thine 
Than  send  your  bitches  to  seek  their  swill, 

Or  feed  the  swine ;  may  the  fiends  take  you  !” 

Helgi  spake: 

47.  “Better,  Sinfjotli,  thee  ’twould  beseem 

Battle  to  give  and  eagles  to  gladden, 

Than  vain  and  empty  words  to  utter, 

Though  ring-breakers  oft  in  speech  do  wrangle. 

48.  “Good  I  find  not  the  sons  of  Granmar, 

But  for  heroes  ’tis  seemly  the  truth  to  speak ; 

At  Moinsheimar  proved  the  men 

That  hearts  for  the  wielding  of  swords  they  had.” 

49.  Mightily  then  they  made  to  run 
Sviputh  and  Sveggjuth  to  Solheimar; 


possibly  a  giant.  Imth:  nothing  is  known  of  him  or  his  daughter. 

46.  A  few  editions  give  this  stanza  to  Sinfjotli.  Frekastein : 
cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  39  and  note.  A  stanza  may 
have  been  lost  after  stanza  46,  parallel  to  stanza  25  of  the  second 
Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay. 

47.  Ring-breakers :  cf.  stanza  18  and  note. 

48.  Moinsheimar :  a  battlefield  of  which  nothing  is  known, 
where,  however,  the  sons  of  Granmar  appear  to  have  fought 
bravely. 

49.  Here  the  scene  shifts  to  the  shore  among  Hothbrodd’s  fol- 

[  304] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 

(By  dewy  dales  and  chasms  dark, 

Mist’s  horse  shook  where  the  men  went  by;) 
The  king  they  found  at  his  courtyard  gate, 
And  told  him  the  foeman  fierce  was  come. 

50.  Forth  stood  Hothbrodd,  helmed  for  battle, 
Watched  the  riding  of  his  warriors; 

“Why  are  the  Hniflungs  white  with  fear?” 

Gothmund  spake: 

51.  “Swift  keels  lie  hard  by  the  land, 

(Mast-ring  harts  and  mighty  yards, 

Wealth  of  shields  and  well-planed  oars;) 

The  king’s  fair  host,  the  Ylfings  haughty; 
Fifteen  bands  to  land  have  fared, 

But  out  in  Sogn  are  seven  thousand. 


lowers.  Sviputh  and  Sveggjuth  (“Swift”  and  “Lithe”)  :  horses’ 
names.  Mist's  horse:  the  Valkyrie’s  name  is  the  same  as  the  Eng¬ 
lish  word  “mist,”  and  the  “horse”  on  which  the  mist  rides  is  the 
earth.  The  two  lines  in  parenthesis  may  be  interpolated,  or  line  5 
may  begin  a  new  stanza,  as  the  manuscript  indicates. 

50.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Hniflungs :  cf.  intro¬ 
ductory  note. 

51.  Lines  2-3  may  be  interpolated,  or  a  new  stanza  may  begin, 
as  the  manuscript  indicates,  with  line  5.  Many  editors  combine 
lines  5-6  with  all  or  part  of  stanza  52.  Possibly  Gothmund  is  not 
the  speaker.  Mast-ring  harts:  ships,  so  called  from  the  ring  at¬ 
taching  the  yard  to  the  mast.  Ylfings:  cf.  stanza  5  and  note.  Sogn: 
this  name,  which  actually  belongs  in  western  Norway,  seems  to 
have  been  used  here  with  no  particular  significance. 

52.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  beginning  a  new 
stanza;  some  editors  combine  lines  3-4  with  all  or  part  of  stanza 

[  305  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


52.  “At  anchor  lying  off  Gnipalund 

Are  fire-beasts  black,  all  fitted  with  gold; 

There  wait  most  of  the  foeman’s  men, 

Nor  will  Helgi  long  the  battle  delay.” 

Hothbrodd  spake: 

53.  “Bid  the  horses  run  to  the  Reginthing, 

Melnir  and  Mylnir  to  Myrkwood  now, 

(And  Sporvitnir  to  Sparinsheith ;) 

Let  no  man  seek  henceforth  to  sit 

Who  the  flame  of  wounds  knows  well  to  wield. 

54.  “Summon  Hogni,  the  sons  of  Hring, 

Atli  and  Yngvi  and  Alf  the  Old; 

Glad  they  are  of  battle  ever ; 

Against  the  Volsungs  let  us  go.” 


53,  while  others  assume  the  loss  of  two  lines  following  line  4. 
Fire-beasts :  dragons,  i.e.,  ships.  The  Norse  ships  of  war,  as  dis¬ 
tinguished  from  merchant  vessels,  were  often  called  dragons 
because  of  their  shape  and  the  carving  of  their  stems. 

53.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker,  and  a  few 
editors  assume  the  loss  of  one  or  two  lines  embodying  the  phrase 
“Hothbrodd  spake.”  In  the  manuscript  line  3,  which  many  editors 
have  suspected  of  being  spurious,  stands  before  line  2.  Possibly 
lines  4-5  are  the  remains  of  a  separate  stanza.  Reginthing  (“The 
Great  Council”)  :  apparently  the  council-place  for  the  whole 
country,  as  distinct  from  the  local  council,  or  “herathsthing.” 
Melnir  (“Bit-Bearer”),  Mylnir  (“The  Biter”)  and  Spornvitnir 
(“Spur-Wolf”)  :  horses’  names.  Myrkwood:  a  not  uncommon 
name  for  a  dark  forest;  cf.  Lokasenna,  42,  and  Atlakvitha,  3. 
Sparinsheith  (“Sparin’s  Heath”)  :  nothing  more  is  known  of 
Sparin  or  his  heath.  Flame  of  wounds:  sword. 

54.  Hogni:  the  father  of  Sigrun ;  cf.  Helgakvitha  Handings - 

[  306  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I 


55.  Swift  as  a  storm 
The  flashing  blades 
Ever  was  Helgi, 
First  in  the  throng 
(Fierce  in  battle, 
Hard  the  heart 


there  smote  together 
at  Frekastein; 
Hunding’s  slayer, 

where  warriors  fought; 
slow  to  fly, 
of  the  hero  was.) 


56.  From  heaven  there  came  the  maidens  helmed, — 
The  weapon-clang  grew, —  who  watched  o’er  the 

king; 

Spake  Sigrun  fair, —  the  wound-givers  flew, 

And  the  horse  of  the  giantess  raven’s-food  had : — 

57.  ‘‘Hail  to  thee,  hero!  full  happy  with  men, 
Offspring  of  Yngvi,  shalt  ever  live, 

For  thou  the  fearless  foe  hast  slain 

Who  to  many  the  dread  of  death  had  brought. 


bana  II,  18.  Of  Hring  and  his  sons  nothing  further  is  known. 
Volsungs:  here  for  the  first  time  the  poet  gives  Helgi  and 
Sinfjotli  the  family  name  to  which,  as  sons  of  Sigmund  Vol- 
sungsson,  they  are  entitled. 

55.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  5  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza,  but  many  editors  have  rejected  lines  5-6  as  spurious,  while 
others  regard  them  as  the  first  half  of  a  stanza  the  last  two  lines 
of  which  have  been  lost. 

56.  Wound-givers :  probably  this  means  “Valkyries,”  but  there 
is  considerable  doubt  as  to  the  original  word.  Horse,  etc.:  i.e.,  the 
wolf  (because  giantesses  customarily  had  wolves  for  their  steeds) 
ate  corpses  (the  food  of  birds  of  prey). 

57.  Yngvi:  one  of  the  sons  of  Halfdan  the  Old,  and  traditional 
ancestor  of  the  Ynglings,  with  whom  the  Ylfings  seem  to  have 
been  confused  (cf.  Hynduljoth,  11  and  note).  The  confusion  be¬ 
tween  the  Ylfings  (or  Ynglings)  and  Volsungs  was  carried  far 

[  307  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


58.  “Warrior,  well  for  thyself  hast  won 
Red  rings  bright  and  the  noble  bride; 
Both  now,  warrior,  thine  shall  be, 

Hogni’s  daughter  and  Hringstathir, 
Wealth  and  triumph;  the  battle  wanes.” 


enough  so  that  Sigurth  himself  is  once  called  a  descendant  of 
Yngvi  ( Reginsmol ,  14).  Gering  identifies  the  name  of  Yngvi  with 
the  god  Freyr,  but  the  Volsungs  certainly  claimed  descent  from 
Othin,  not  Freyr,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  Helgi  in 
the  Danish  tradition  was  supposed  to  be  descended  from  Freyr, 
whereas  his  descent  from  Yngvi  Halfdansson  fits  well  with  the 
rest  of  his  story.  However,  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  24  and 
note. 

58.  This  entire  stanza  may  be  an  interpolation;  nearly  every 
edition  has  a  different  way  of  dealing  with  it.  Hringstathir :  as 
this  place  had  been  given  to  Helgi  by  his  father  (cf.  stanza  8 
and  note),  the  poet  has  apparently  made  a  mistake  in  naming  it 
here  as  a  conquest  from  Granmar’s  sons,  unless,  indeed,  they 
had  previously  captured  it  from  Helgi,  which  seems  unlikely. 


[  308] 


HELGAKVITHA  HUNDINGSBANA  II 

The  Second  Lay  of  Helgi  Hundingsbane 

Introductory  Note 

As  the  general  nature  of  the  Helgi  tradition  has  been  consid¬ 
ered  in  the  introductory  note  to  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar, 
it  is  necessary  here  to  discuss  only  the  characteristics  of  this 
particular  poem.  The  second  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay  is  in  most 
respects  the  exact  opposite  of  the  first  one:  it  is  in  no  sense  con¬ 
secutive;  it  is  not  a  narrative  poem,  and  all  or  most  of  it  gives 
evidence  of  relatively  early  composition,  its  origin  probably  going 
well  back  into  the  tenth  century. 

It  is  frankly  nothing  but  a  piece  of,  in  the  main,  very  clumsy 
patchwork,  made  up  of  eight  distinct  fragments,  pieced  together 
awkwardly  by  the  annotator  with  copious  prose  notes.  One  of 
these  fragments  (stanzas  13-16)  is  specifically  identified  as 
coming  from  “the  old  Volsung  lay.”  What  was  that  poem,  and 
how  much  more  of  the  extant  Helgi-lay  compilation  was  taken 
from  it,  and  did  the  annotator  know  more  of  it  than  he  included 
in  his  patchwork?  Conclusive  answers  to  these  questions  have 
baffled  scholarship,  and  probably  always  will  do  so.  My  own 
guess  is  that  the  annotator  knew  little  or  nothing  more  than  he 
wrote  down;  having  got  the  first  Helgi  Hundingsbane  lay,  which 
was  obviously  in  fairly  good  shape,  out  of  the  way,  he  proceeded 
to  assemble  all  the  odds  and  ends  of  verse  about  Helgi  which  he 
could  get  hold  of,  putting  them  together  on  the  basis  of  the  nar¬ 
rative  told  in  the  first  Helgi  lay  and  of  such  stories  as  his  knowl¬ 
edge  of  prose  sagas  may  have  yielded. 

Section  I  (stanzas  1-4)  deals  with  an  early  adventure  of 
Helgi’s,  in  which  he  narrowly  escapes  capture  when  he  ventures 
into  Hunding’s  home  in  disguise.  Section  II  (stanzas  5-12)  is  a 
dialogue  between  Helgi  and  Sigrun  at  their  first  meeting.  Sec¬ 
tion  III  (stanzas  13-16,  the  “old  Volsung  lay”  group)  is  another 
dialogue  between  Helgi  and  Sigrun  when  she  invokes  his  aid  to 
save  her  from  Hothbrodd.  Section  IV  (stanzas  17-21),  which 
may  well  be  from  the  same  poem  as  Section  III,  is  made  up  of 
speeches  by  Helgi  and  Sigrun  after  the  battle  in  which  Hothbrodd 
is  killed;  stanza  21,  however,  is  certainly  an  interpolation  from 
another  poem,  as  it  is  in  a  different  meter.  Section  V  (stanzas 
22-27)  *s  dispute  between  Sinfjotli  and  Gothmund,  evidently 

[  309  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


in  an  older  form  than  the  one  included  in  the  first  Helgi  Hun- 
dingsbane  lay.  Section  VI  (stanzas  28-37)  gives  Dag’s  speech  to 
his  sister,  Sigrun,  telling  of  Helgi’s  death,  her  curse  on  her 
brother  and  her  lament  for  her  slain  husband.  Section  VII 
(stanza  38)  is  the  remnant  of  a  dispute  between  Helgi  and 
Hunding,  here  inserted  absurdly  out  of  place.  Section  VIII 
(stanzas  39-50)  deals  with  the  return  of  the  dead  Helgi  and 
Sigrun’s  visit  to  him  in  the  burial  hill. 

Sijmens  maintains  that  sections  I  and  II  are  fragments  of  the 
Kara  lay  mentioned  by  the  annotator  in  his  concluding  prose 
note,  and  that  sections  IV,  VI,  and  VIII  are  from  a  lost  Helgi- 
Sigrun  poem,  while  Section  III  comes,  of  course,  from  the  “old 
Volsung  lay.”  This  seems  as  good  a  guess  as  any  other,  conclu¬ 
sive  proof  being  quite  out  of  the  question. 

Were  it  not  for  sections  VI  and  VIII  the  poem  would  be  little 
more  than  a  battle-ground  for  scholars,  but  those  two  sections 
are  in  many  ways  as  fine  as  anything  in  Old  Norse  poetry. 
Sigrun’s  curse  of  her  brother  for  the  slaying  of  Helgi  and  her 
lament  for  her  dead  husband,  and  the  extraordinary  vividness 
of  the  final  scene  in  the  burial  hill,  have  a  quality  which  fully 
offsets  the  baffling  confusion  of  the  rest  of  the  poem. 


King  Sigmund,  the  son  of  Volsung,  had  as  wife  Borg- 
hild,  from  Bralund.  They  named  their  son  Helgi,  after 
Helgi  Hjorvarthsson ;  Hagai  was  Helgi’s  foster-father. 
Hunding  was  the  name  of  a  powerful  king,  and  Hund- 
land  is  named  from  him.  He  was  a  mighty  warrior,  and 
had  many  sons  with  him  on  his  campaigns.  There  was 
enmity  and  strife  between  these  two,  King  Hunding  and 


Prose.  In  the  manuscript  the  poem  is  headed  “Of  the  Vol- 
sungs,”  but  most  editions  give  it  the  title  used  here.  Sigmund:  cf. 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  1 ,  6  and  note,  which  also  mentions 
Volsung.  Borghild  and  Bralund:  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana 
I,  1  and  note.  Helgi:  the  annotator’s  explanation  that  the  child 

[310] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

King  Sigmund,  and  each  slew  the  other’s  kinsmen.  King 
Sigmund  and  his  family  were  called  Volsungs  and  Ylfings. 

Helgi  went  as  a  spy  to  the  home  of  King  Hunding  in 
disguise.  Hæming,  a  son  of  King  Hunding’s,  was  at 
home.  When  Helgi  went  forth,  then  he  met  a  young 
herdsman,  and  said: 

I.  “Say  to  Hæming  that  Helgi  knows 
Whom  the  heroes  in  armor  hid  ; 

A  gray  wolf  had  they  within  their  hall, 

Whom  King  Hunding  Hamal  thought.” 

Hamal  was  the  name  of  Hagai’s  son.  King  Hunding 


was  named  after  Helgi  Hjorvarthsson  is  a  naive  way  of  getting 
around  the  difficulties  created  by  the  two  sets  of  Helgi  stories. 
He  might  equally  well  have  said  that  the  new  Helgi  was  the  old 
one  born  again,  as  he  accounts  for  Sigrun  in  this  way  (“she  was 
Svava  reborn”).  Hagai :  not  elsewhere  mentioned;  it  was  a 
common  custom  to  have  boys  brought  up  by  foster-parents.  Hun¬ 
ding  and  Hundland:  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I ,  io  and 
note.  Volsungs  and  Ylfings:  regarding  this  confusion  of  family 
names  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  5  and  note.  Hæming :  his 
name  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of  Hunding’s  sons.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  these  opening  stanzas  (1-4)  do  not  refer  to  Hunding 
at  all. 

1.  Helgi  appears  to  have  stayed  with  Hunding  under  the 
name  of  Hamal,  but  now,  thinking  himself  safe,  he  sends  word 
of  who  he  really  is.  Hunding:  it  has  been  suggested  that  the 
compiler  may  have  inserted  this  name  to  fit  what  he  thought  the 
story  ought  to  be,  in  place  of  Hæming,  or  even  Hadding.  If 
stanzas  1-4  are  a  fragment  of  the  Karuljoth  ( Lay  of  Kara),  this 
latter  suggestion  is  quite  reasonable,  for  in  that  poem,  which  we 
do  not  possess,  but  which  supplied  material  for  the  compilers  of 
the  Hromundar  saga  Greipssonar,  Helgi  appears  as  Helgi  Had- 
dingjaskati  (cf.  final  prose  note).  Nothing  beyond  this  one  name 
connects  stanzas  1-4  with  Hunding. 

[311] 


Poetic  Edda 


sent  men  to  Hagai  to  seek  Helgi,  and  Helgi  could  not 
save  himself  in  any  other  way,  so  he  put  on  the  clothes 
of  a  bond-woman  and  set  to  work  at  the  mill.  They 
sought  Helgi  but  found  him  not. 

2.  Then  Blind  spake  out,  the  evil-minded: 

“Of  Hagai’s  bond-woman  bright  are  the  eyes; 

Yon  comes  not  of  churls  who  stands  at  the  quern ; 

The  millstones  break,  the  boards  are  shattered. 

3.  “The  hero  has  a  doom  full  hard, 

That  barley  now  he  needs  must  grind; 

Better  befits  his  hand  to  feel 

The  hilt  of  the  sword  than  the  millstone’s  handle.’’ 

Hagai  answered  and  said: 

4.  “Small  is  the  wonder  if  boards  are  splintered  ; 

By  a  monarch’s  daughter  the  mill  is  turned ; 


Prose.  Hagai:  Helgi’s  foster-father,  who  naturally  protects 
him. 

2.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  2  as  the  beginning  of  the 
stanza,  the  copyist  evidently  regarding  line  1  as  prose.  This  has 
caused  various  rearrangements  in  the  different  editions.  Blind: 
leader  of  the  band  sent  to  capture  Helgi. 

3.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 
Barley:  the  word  literally  means  “foreign  grain,”  and  would 
afford  an  interesting  study  to  students  of  early  commerce. 

4.  Possibly  two  stanzas  with  one  line  lost,  or  perhaps  the  lines 
in  parenthesis  are  spurious;  each  editor  has  his  own  guess. 
Sigar  and  Hogni:  it  seems  unlikely  that  Hagai  refers  to  the 
Hogni  who  was  Sigrun’s  father,  for  this  part  of  the  story  has 
nothing  whatever  to  do  with  Sigrun.  As  Hagai  is,  of  course,  de- 

[312] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

Once  through  clouds  she  was  wont  to  ride, 

And  battles  fought  like  fighting  men, 

(Till  Helgi  a  captive  held  her  fast ; 

Sister  she  is  of  Sigar  and  Hogni, 

Thus  bright  are  the  eyes  of  the  Ylfings’  maid.)” 

Helgi  escaped  and  went  to  a  fighting  ship.  He  slew 
King  Hunding,  and  thenceforth  was  called  Helgi  Hund- 
ingsbane. 

(II) 

He  lay  with  his  host  in  Brunavagar,  and  they  had  there 
a  strand-slaughtering,  and  ate  the  flesh  raw.  Hogni  was 
the  name  of  a  king.  His  daughter  was  Sigrun;  she  was 
a  Valkyrie  and  rode  air  and  water;  she  was  Svava  reborn. 
Sigrun  rode  to  Helgi’s  ship  and  said : 

5.  “Who  rules  the  ship  by  the  shore  so  steep? 
Where  is  the  home  ye  warriors  have? 

Why  do  ye  bide  in  Brunavagar, 

Or  what  the  way  that  ye  wish  to  try?” 


liberately  lying,  it  is  useless  to  test  any  part  of  his  speech  for 
accuracy. 

Prose.  No  division  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Brunavagar 
(“Bruni’s  Sea”)  :  mentioned  only  in  this  section.  Strand-slaughter¬ 
ing:  a  killing  on  the  shore  of  cattle  stolen  in  a  raid.  Hogni  and 
Sigrun:  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  17  and  note;  the  anno¬ 
tator’s  notion  of  Sigrun  as  the  reincarnated  Svava  (cf.  Helga¬ 
kvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  concluding  prose  note)  represents  a 
naive  form  of  scholarship.  There  is  nothing  in  stanzas  5-12 
which  clearly  identifies  Sigrun  as  a  Valkyrie,  or  which,  except 
for  the  last  line  of  stanza  12,  identifies  the  speaker  as  Sigrun. 
Some  editors,  therefore,  call  her  simply  “the  Valkyrie,”  while 

[313] 


Poetic  Edda 


Helgi  spake: 

6  “Hamal’s  the  ship  by  the  shore  so  steep, 

Our  home  in  Hlesey  do  we  have ; 

For  fair  wind  bide  we  in  Brunavagar, 
Eastward  the  way  that  we  wish  to  try.” 

Sigrun  spake: 

7.  “Where  hast  thou,  warrior,  battle  wakened, 
Or  gorged  the  birds  of  the  sisters  of  Guth  ? 
Why  is  thy  byrnie  spattered  with  blood, 
Why  helmed  dost  feast  on  food  uncooked?” 

Helgi  spake: 

8.  “Latest  of  all,  the  Ylfings’  son 

On  the  western  sea,  if  know  thou  wilt, 
Captured  bears  in  Bragalund, 

And  fed  the  eagles  with  edge  of  sword. 
Now  is  it  shown  why  our  shirts  are  bloody, 
And  little  our  food  with  fire  is  cooked.” 


Vigfusson,  who  thinks  this  section  is  also  a  remnant  of  the  Karu- 
Ijoth,  calls  her  Kara. 

6.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers.  Hamal: 
Helgi’s  assumption  of  this  name  seems  to  link  this  section 
(stanzas  5-12)  with  stanza  1.  Hlesey  (“Island  of  Hler” — i.e., 
Ægir,  the  sea-god)  :  generally  identified  as  the  Danish  island  of 
Lásö;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  37  and  note. 

7.  Guth:  a  Valkyrie  (cf.  Foluspo,  31);  the  birds  of  her  sisters 
are  the  kites  and  ravens. 

8.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  5  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza;  some  editors  reject  lines  1-2,  while  others  make  lines  5-6 
into  a  fragmentary  stanza.  Ylfings:  cf.  introductory  prose  and 
note.  Bragalund  (“Bragi’s  Wood”)  :  a  mythical  place.  Bears: 
presumably  Berserkers,  regarding  whom  cf.  Hyndluljoth,  23. 

[314] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

Sigrun  spake : 

9.  “Of  battle  thou  tellest,  and  there  was  bent 
Hunding  the  king  before  Helgi  down; 

There  was  carnage  when  thou  didst  avenge  thy 
kin, 

And  blood  flowed  fast  on  the  blade  of  the  sword.” 
Helgi  spake: 

10.  “How  didst  thou  know  that  now  our  kin, 

Maiden  wise,  we  have  well  avenged  ? 

Many  there  are  of  the  sons  of  the  mighty 
Who  share  alike  our  lofty  race.” 

Sigrun  spake: 

11.  “Not  far  was  I  from  the  lord  of  the  folk, 

Yester  morn,  when  the  monarch  was  slain; 
Though  crafty  the  son  of  Sigmund,  methinks, 
When  he  speaks  of  the  fight  in  slaughter-runes. 

12.  “On  the  long-ship  once  I  saw  thee  well, 

When  in  the  blood-stained  bow  thou  wast, 


10.  Helgi’s  meaning  in  lines  3-4  is  that,  although  he  has  al¬ 
ready  declared  himself  an  Ylfing  (stanza  8,  line  1),  there  are 
many  heroes  of  that  race,  and  he  does  not  understand  how  Sigrun 
knows  him  to  be  Helgi. 

11.  Slaughter-runes :  equivocal  or  deceptive  speech  regarding 
the  battle.  The  word  “rune”  had  the  meaning  of  “magic”  or 
“mystery”  long  before  it  was  applied  to  the  signs  or  characters 
with  which  it  was  later  identified. 

12.  Some  editors  reject  line  3,  others  line  5.  The  manuscript 
omits  Helgi’s  name  in  line  5,  thereby  destroying  both  the  sense 
and  the  meter.  Vigfusson,  following  his  Karuljoth  theory  (cf. 

[315] 


Poetic  Edda 


(And  round  thee  icy  waves  were  raging;) 

Now  would  the  hero  hide  from  me, 

But  to  Hogni’s  daughter  is  Helgi  known.” 

(in) 

Granmar  was  the  name  of  a  mighty  king,  who  dwelt 
at  Svarin’s  hill.  He  had  many  sons;  one  was  named 
Hothbrodd,  another  Gothmund,  a  third  Starkath.  Hoth- 
brodd  was  in  a  kings’  meeting,  and  he  won  the  promise  of 
having  Sigrun,  Hogni’s  daughter,  for  his  wife.  But  when 
she  heard  this,  she  rode  with  the  Valkyries  over  air  and 
sea  to  seek  Helgi.  Helgi  was  then  at  Logafjoll,  and  had 
fought  with  Hunding’s  sons;  there  he  killed  Alf  and 
Eyolf,  Hjorvarth  and  Hervarth.  He  was  all  weary  with 
battle,  and  sat  under  the  eagle-stone.  There  Sigrun  found 
him,  and  ran  to  throw  her  arms  about  his  neck,  and  kissed 
him,  and  told  him  her  tidings,  as  is  set  forth  in  the  old 
Volsung  lay: 

13.  Sigrun  the  joyful  chieftain  sought, 

Forthwith  Helgi’s  hand  she  took ; 


note  on  prose  following  stanza  4),  changes  Hogni  to  Halfdan, 
father  of  Kara. 

Prose.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  division.  Most  of  this 
prose  passage  is  evidently  based  on  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana 
I;  the  only  new  features  are  the  introduction  of  Starkath  as  a 
third  son  of  Granmar,  which  is  clearly  an  error  based  on  a  mis¬ 
understanding  of  stanza  19,  and  the  reference  to  the  kings’  meet¬ 
ing,  based  on  stanza  15.  Kings’  meetings,  or  councils,  were  by  no 
means  unusual ;  the  North  in  early  days  was  prolific  in  kings. 
For  the  remaining  names,  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  l: 

[316] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

She  greeted  the  hero  helmed  and  kissed  him, 
The  warrior’s  heart  to  the  woman  turned. 

14.  From  her  heart  the  daughter  of  Hogni  spake, 
Dear  was  Helgi,  she  said,  to  her; 

“Long  with  all  my  heart  I  loved 
Sigmund’s  son  ere  ever  I  saw  him. 

15.  “At  the  meeting  to  Hothbrodd  mated  I  was, 
But  another  hero  I  fain  would  have; 
Though,  king,  the  wrath  of  my  kin  I  fear, 
Since  I  broke  my  father’s  fairest  wish.” 

Helgi  spake: 

16.  “Fear  not  ever  Hogni’s  anger, 

Nor  yet  thy  kinsmen’s  cruel  wrath ; 

Maiden,  thou  with  me  shalt  live, 

Thy  kindred,  fair  one,  I  shall  not  fear.” 


Granmar,  stanza  19;  Hothbrodd,  stanza  19;  Gothmund,  stanza 
33;  Svarin’s  hill,  stanza  32;  Logafjoll,  stanza  13;  Alf,  Eyjolf, 
Hjorvarth  and  Hervarth,  stanza  14.  The  old  Volsung  lay:  cf. 
Introductory  Note. 

13.  Some  editions  combine  lines  3-4,  or  line  4,  with  part  of 
stanza  14. 

14.  The  lines  of  stanzas  14  and  15  are  here  rearranged  in 
accordance  with  Bugge’s  emendation;  in  the  manuscript  they 
stand  as  follows:  lines  3-4  of  stanza  14;  stanza  15;  lines  1-2  of 
stanza  14.  This  confusion  has  given  rise  to  various  editorial 
conjectures. 

Prose .  The  manuscript  indicates  no  division.  Here  again,  the 
annotator  has  drawn  practically  all  his  information  from  Helga- 

[317] 


Poetic  Edda 

(IV) 

Helgi  then  assembled  a  great  sea-host  and  went  to 
Frekastein.  On  the  sea  he  met  a  perilous  storm;  light¬ 
ning  flashed  overhead  and  the  bolts  struck  the  ship.  They 
saw  in  the  air  that  nine  Valkyries  were  riding,  and  recog¬ 
nized  Sigrun  among  them.  Then  the  storm  abated,  and 
they  came  safe  and  sound  to  land.  Granmar’s  sons  sat 
on  a  certain  mountain  as  the  ships  sailed  toward  the  land. 
Gothmund  leaped  on  a  horse  and  rode  for  news  to  a 
promontory  near  the  harbor;  the  Volsungs  were  even 
then  lowering  their  sails.  Then  Gothmund  said,  as  is 
written  before  in  the  Helgi  lay: 

“Who  is  the  king  who  captains  the  fleet, 

And  to  the  land  the  warriors  leads?” 

Sinfjotli,  Sigmund’s  son,  answered  him,  and  that  too 
is  written. 

Gothmund  rode  home  with  his  tidings  of  the  host; 


kvitha  LIundingsbana  I,  which  he  specifically  mentions  and  even 
quotes.  The  only  new  features  are  the  names  of  Hogni’s  sons, 
Bragi  and  Dag.  Bragi  is  mentioned  in  stanza  18,  though  it  is  not 
there  stated  that  he  is  Hogni’s  son.  Dag,  who  figures  largely  in 
stanzas  28-34,  is  a  puzzle,  for  the  verse  never  names  him,  and  it 
is  an  open  question  where  the  annotator  got  his  name.  Freka¬ 
stein:  cf.  Helgakwitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  39  and  note.  As  is  ’writ¬ 
ten:  the  two  lines  are  quoted,  with  a  change  of  two  words,  from 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  33.  Sinfjotli:  cf.  Helgakvitha 
Hundingsbana  I,  6  and  note,  and  stanzas  33-48,  in  which  the 
whole  dialogue  is  given.  Loyalty:  apparently  the  annotator  got 
this  bit  of  information  out  of  stanza  29,  in  which  Sigrun  refers  to 
the  oaths  which  her  brother  had  sworn  to  Helgi. 

[318] 


Helgakvitba  Hundingsbana  II 

then  Granmar’s  sons  summoned  an  army.  Many  kings 
came  there;  there  were  Hogni,  Sigrun’s  father,  and  his 
sons  Bragi  and  Dag.  There  was  a  great  battle,  and  all 
Granmar’s  sons  were  slain  and  all  their  allies;  only  Dag, 
Hogni’s  son,  was  spared,  and  he  swore  loyalty  to  the 
Volsungs.  Sigrun  went  among  the  dead  and  found  Hoth- 
brodd  at  the  coming  of  death.  She  said: 

17.  “Never  shall  Sigrun  from  Sevafjoll, 

Hothbrodd  king,  be  held  in  thine  arms; 
Granmar’s  sons  full  cold  have  grown, 

And  the  giant-steeds  gray  on  corpses  gorge.” 

Then  she  sought  out  Helgi,  and  was  full  of  joy.  He  said : 

18.  “Maid,  not  fair  is  all  thy  fortune, 

The  Norns  I  blame  that  this  should  be; 

This  morn  there  fell  at  Frekastein 

.  Bragi  and  Hogni  beneath  my  hand. 

19.  “At  Hlebjorg  fell  the  sons  of  Hrollaug, 

Starkath  the  king  at  Styrkleifar; 


17.  Sevafjoll  (“Wet  Mountain”)  :  mentioned  only  in  this 
poem.  Giant-steeds :  wolves,  the  usual  steeds  of  giantesses;  cf. 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  56. 

18.  Maid:  the  word  thus  rendered  is  the  same  doubtful  one 
which  appears  in  Völundarkvitha,  1  and  5,  and  which  may  mean 
specifically  a  Valkyrie  (Gering  translates  it  “helmed”  or  “he¬ 
roic”)  or  simply  “wise.”  Cf.  Völundarkvitha,  note  on  introduc¬ 
tory  prose.  Norns:  cf.  Voluspo,  20  and  note.  In  stanza  33  Dag 
similarly  lays  the  blame  for  the  murder  he  has  committed  on 
Othin.  Bragi:  probably  Sigrun’s  brother. 

19.  This  stanza  looks  like  an  interpolation,  and  there  is  little 

[319] 


Poetic  Edda 


Fighters  more  noble  saw  I  never, 

The  body  fought  when  the  head  had  fallen. 

20.  “On  the  ground  full  low  the  slain  are  lying, 

Most  are  there  of  the  men  of  thy  race ; 

Nought  hast  thou  won,  for  thy  fate  it  was 
Brave  men  to  bring  to  the  battle-field.” 

Then  Sigrun  wept.  Helgi  said: 

21.  “Grieve  not,  Sigrun,  the  battle  is  gained, 

The  fighter  can  shun  not  his  fate.” 

Sigrun  spake: 

“To  life  would  I  call  them  who  slaughtered  lie, 
If  safe  on  thy  breast  I  might  be.” 


or  nothing  to  connect  it  with  the  slaying  of  Granmar’s  sons.  In 
the  manuscript  line  2,  indicated  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza, 
precedes  line  1.  Hlebjorg  (“Sea-Mountain”)  and  Styrkleifar 
(“Battle-Cliffs”)  :  place  names  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  Of 
Hrollaug’s  sons  nothing  further  is  known.  Starkath:  this  name 
gives  a  hint  of  the  origin  of  this  stanza,  for  Saxo  Grammaticus 
tells  of  the  slaying  of  the  Swedish  hero  Starkath  (“The  Strong”) 
the  son  of  Storverk,  and  describes  how  his  severed  head  bit  the 
ground  in  anger  (cf.  line  4).  In  all  probability  this  stanza  is 
from  an  entirely  different  poem,  dealing  with  the  Starkath  story, 
and  the  annotator’s  attempt  to  identify  the  Swedish  hero  as  a 
third  son  of  Granmar  is  quite  without  foundation. 

21.  The  difference  of  meter  would  of  itself  be  enough  to  indi¬ 
cate  that  this  stanza  comes  from  an  entirely  different  poem.  A 
few  editions  assign  the  whole  stanza  to  Helgi,  but  lines  3-4  are 
almost  certainly  Sigrun’s,  and  the  manuscript  begins  line  3  with  a 
large  capital  letter  following  a  period. 

[  320  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

(V) 

This  Gothmund  the  son  of  Granmar  spoke : 

22.  “What  hero  great  is  guiding  the  ships? 

A  golden  flag  on  the  stem  he  flies; 

I  find  not  peace  in  the  van  of  your  faring, 
And  round  the  fighters  is  battle-light  red.” 

Sinfjotli  spake: 

23.  “Here  may  Hothbrodd  Helgi  find, 

The  hater  of  flight,  in  the  midst  of  the  fleet ; 
The  home  of  all  thy  race  he  has, 

And  over  the  realm  of  the  fishes  he  rules.” 


22.  With  this  stanza  begins  the  dispute  between  Gothmund 
and  Sinfjotli  which,  together  with  Helgi’s  rebuke  to  his  half- 
brother,  appears  at  much  greater  length  in  Helgakvitha  Hun¬ 
dingsbana  I,  33-48.  It  is  introduced  here  manifestly  in  the  wrong 
place.  The  version  here  given  is  almost  certainly  the  older  of  the 
two,  but  the  resemblance  is  so  striking,  and  in  some  cases  (nota¬ 
bly  in  Helgi’s  rebuke)  the  stanzas  are  so  nearly  identical,  that  it 
seems  probable  that  the  composer  of  the  first  Helgi  Hundingsbane 
lay  borrowed  directly  from  the  poem  of  which  the  present  dia¬ 
logue  is  a  fragment.  Flag:  the  banner  (“gunnfani,”  cf.  “gon¬ 
falon”)  here  serves  as  the  signal  for  war  instead  of  the  red 
shield  mentioned  in  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  34.  Battle- 
light:  perhaps  the  “northern  lights.” 

23.  Lines  3-4  are  obscure,  and  in  the  manuscript  show  signs 
of  error.  Helgi  had  not  at  this  time,  so  far  as  we  know,  conquered 
any  of  Hothbrodd’s  land.  The  realm  of  the  fishes,  in  line  4,  pre¬ 
sumably  means  the  sea,  but  the  word  here  translated  “fishes”  is 
obscure,  and  many  editors  treat  it  as  a  proper  name,  “the  realm 
of  the  Fjorsungs,”  but  without  further  suggestion  as  to  who  or 
what  the  Fjorsungs  are. 


[321] 


Poetic  Edda 


Gothmund  spake: 

24.  “First  shall  swords  at  Frekastein 
Prove  our  worth  in  place  of  words ; 

Time  is  it,  Hothbrodd,  vengeance  to  have, 
If  in  battle  worsted  once  we  were.” 


25- 


Sinfjotli  spake: 
“Better,  Gothmund, 
And  climb  the  rocks 
A  hazel  switch  to 
More  seemly  were 


to  tend  the  goats, 
of  the  mountain  cliffs ; 
hold  in  thy  hand 
than  the  hilt  of  a  sword.” 


Helgi  spake: 

26.  “Better,  Sinfjotli,  thee  ’twould  beseem 
Battles  to  give,  and  eagles  to  gladden, 

Than  vain  and  empty  speech  to  utter, 
Though  warriors  oft  with  words  do  strive. 


27.  “Good  I  find  not  the  sons  of  Granmar, 

But  for  heroes  ’tis  seemly  the  truth  to  speak; 

At  Moinsheimar  proved  the  men 

That  hearts  for  the  wielding  of  swords  they  had, 

(And  ever  brave  the  warriors  are.)” 


24.  The  word  here  translated  swords  is  a  conjectural  emenda¬ 
tion ;  the  manuscript  implies  merely  an  invitation  to  continue  the 
quarrel  at  Frekastein.  Hothbrodd:  apparently  he  is  here  consid¬ 
ered  as  present  during  the  dispute;  some  editors,  in  defiance  of 
the  meter,  have  emended  the  line  to  mean  “Time  is  it  for  Hoth¬ 
brodd  vengeance  to  have.” 

26-27.  Cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  47-48,  which  are 
nearly  identical.  Stanza  27  in  the  manuscript  is  abbreviated  to 
the  first  letters  of  the  words,  except  for  line  5,  which  does  not 
appear  in  the  other  poem,  and  which  looks  like  an  interpolation. 

[  322  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

(VI) 

Helgi  took  Sigrun  to  wife,  and  they  had  sons.  Helgi 
did  not  reach  old  age.  Dag,  the  son  of  Hogni,  offered  sac¬ 
rifice  to  Othin  to  be  avenged  for  his  father’s  death ;  Othin 
gave  Dag  his  spear.  Dag  found  Helgi,  his  brother-in- 
law,  at  a  place  which  is  called  Fjoturlund.  He  thrust 
the  spear  through  Helgi’s  body.  Then  Helgi  fell,  and 
Dag  rode  to  Sevafjoll  and  told  Sigrun  the  tidings: 

28.  “Sad  am  I,  sister,  sorrow  to  tell  thee, 

Woe  to  my  kin  unwilling  I  worked ; 

In  the  morn  there  fell  at  Fjoturlund 
The  noblest  prince  the  world  has  known, 

(And  his  heel  he  set  on  the  heroes’  necks. )” 

Sigrun  spake: 

29.  “Now  may  every  oath  thee  bite 
That  with  Helgi  sworn  thou  hast, 

By  the  water  bright  of  Leipt, 

And  the  ice-cold  stone  of  Uth. 


Prose.  Here  begins  a  new  section  of  the  poem,  dealing  with 
Helgi’s  death  at  the  hands  of  Dag,  Sigrun’s  brother.  The  note  is 
based  wholly  on  stanzas  28-34,  except  for  the  introduction  of 
Dag’s  name  (cf.  note  on  prose  following  stanza  16),  and  the 
reference  to  Othin’s  spear,  the  weapon  which  made  victory  cer¬ 
tain,  and  which  the  annotator  brought  in  doubtless  on  the  strength 
of  Dag’s  statement  that  Othin  was  responsible  for  Helgi’s  death 
(stanza  33).  Fjoturlund  (“Fetter-Wood”):  mentioned  only  here 
and  in  stanza  28. 

28.  Line  5  looks  like  an  interpolation. 

29.  Leipt:  this  river  is  mentioned  in  Grimnismol,  28.  Uth:  a 

[  323  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


30.  “The  ship  shall  sail  not 
Though  a  favoring  wind 
The  horse  shall  run  not 
Though  fain  thou  art 


in  which  thou  sailest, 
shall  follow  after; 
whereon  thou  ridest, 
thy  foe  to  flee. 


3i 


“The  sword  shall  bite  not  which  thou  bearest, 
Till  thy  head  itself  it  sings  about. 


32.  “Vengeance  wrere  mine  for  Helgi’s  murder, 
Wert  thou  a  wolf  in  the  woods  without, 
Possessing  nought  and  knowing  no  joy, 
Having  no  food  save  corpses  to  feed  on.” 

Dag  spake: 

33.  “Mad  art  thou,  sister,  and  wild  of  mind, 
Such  a  curse  on  thy  brother  to  cast ; 

Othin  is  ruler  of  every  ill, 

Who  sunders  kin  with  runes  of  spite. 

34.  “Thy  brother  rings  so  red  will  give  thee, 

All  Vandilsve  and  Vigdalir; 


daughter  of  the  sea-god  Ægir;  regarding  her  sacred  stone  we 
know  nothing.  According  to  the  annotator,  Dag’s  life  had  been 
spared  because  he  swore  loyalty  to  Helgi. 

31.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but  most  editors  have 
assumed  that  either  the  first  or  the  last  two  lines  have  been  lost. 
Bugge  adds  a  line:  “The  shield  shall  not  help  thee  which 

thou  holdest.” 

34.  Vandilsve  (“Vandil’s  Shrine)  :  who  Vandil  was  we  do  not 

[  324  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

Take  half  my  land  to  pay  the  harm, 
Ring-decked  maid,  and  as  meed  for  thy  sons.” 

Sigrun  spake: 

35.  “I  shall  sit  not  happy  at  Sevafjoll, 

Early  or  late,  my  life  to  love, 

If  the  light  cannot  show,  in  the  leader’s  band, 
Vigblær  bearing  him  back  to  his  home, 

(The  golden-bitted ;  I  shall  greet  him  never.) 

36.  “Such  the  fear  that  Helgi’s  foes 
Ever  felt,  and  all  their  kin, 

As  makes  the  goats  with  terror  mad 

Run  from  the  wolf  among  the  rocks. 

37.  “Helgi  rose  above  heroes  all 

Like  the  lofty  ash  above  lowly  thorns, 

Or  the  noble  stag,  with  dew  besprinkled, 

Bearing  his  head  above  all  beasts, 

(And  his  horns  gleam  bright  to  heaven  itself.)” 

A  hill  was  made  in  Helgi’s  memory.  And  when  he 


know;  this  and  Vigdalir  (“Battle-Dale”)  are  purely  mythical 
places. 

35.  Line  5  may  be  spurious.  Vigblœr  (“Battle-Breather”)  : 
Helgi’s  horse. 

37.  Line  5  (or  possibly  line  4)  may  be  spurious.  Cf.  Guth - 
runarkvitha  1,  17,  and  Guthrunark'vitha  II,  2. 

Prose.  V alkali,  etc.:  there  is  no  indication  as  to  where  the 
annotator  got  this  notion  of  Helgi’s  sharing  Othin’s  rule.  It  is 

[  325  ] 


Poetic  Edda 

came  to  Valhall,  then  Othin  bade  him  rule  over  every¬ 
thing  with  himself. 

(VII) 

Helgi  said : 

38.  “Thou  shalt,  Hunding,  of  every  hero 
Wash  the  feet,  and  kindle  the  fire, 

Tie  up  dogs,  and  tend  the  horses, 

And  feed  the  swine  ere  to  sleep  thou  goest.” 

(VIII) 

One  of  Sigrun’s  maidens  went  one  evening  to  Helgi’s 
hill,  and  saw  that  Helgi  rode  to  the  hill  with  many  men. 
The  maiden  said : 

39.  “Is  this  a  dream  that  methinks  I  see, 

Or  the  doom  of  the  gods,  that  dead  men  ride, 


most  unlikely  that  such  an  idea  ever  found  place  in  any  of  the 
Helgi  poems,  or  at  least  in  the  earlier  ones;  probably  it  was  a 
late  development  of  the  tradition  in  a  period  when  Othin  was  no 
longer  taken  seriously. 

38.  This  stanza  apparently  comes  from  an  otherwise  lost 
passage  containing  a  contest  of  words  between  Helgi  and  Hun¬ 
ding;  indeed  the  name  of  Hunding  may  have  been  substituted 
for  another  one  beginning  with  “H,”  and  the  stanza  originally 
have  had  no  connection  with  Helgi  at  all.  The  annotator  inserts  it 
here  through  an  obvious  misunderstanding,  taking  it  to  be  Helgi’s 
application  of  the  power  conferred  on  him  by  Othin. 

39.  Here  begins  the  final  section  (stanzas  39-50),  wherein 
Sigrun  visits  the  dead  Helgi  in  his  burial  hill.  Doom  of  the  gods: 
the  phrase  “ragna  rök”  has  been  rather  unfortunately  Anglicized 
into  the  work  “ragnarok”  (the  Norse  term  is  not  a  proper  name), 

[  326  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

And  hither  spurring  urge  your  steeds, 

Or  is  home-coming  now  to  the  heroes  granted?” 

Helgi  spake: 

40.  “No  dream  is  this  that  thou  thinkest  to  see, 

Nor  the  end  of  the  world,  though  us  thou  behold- 

est, 

And  hither  spurring  we  urge  our  steeds, 

Nor  is  home-coming  now  to  the  heroes  granted.” 

The  maiden  went  home  and  said  to  Sigrun : 

41.  “Go  forth,  Sigrun,  from  Sevafjoll, 

If  fain  the  lord  of  the  folk  wouldst  find; 

(The  hill  is  open,  Helgi  is  come;) 

The  sword-tracks  bleed ;  the  monarch  bade 
That  thou  his  wounds  shouldst  now  make  well.” 

Sigrun  went  in  the  hill  to  Helgi,  and  said: 

42.  “Now  am  I  glad  of  our  meeting  together, 

As  Othin’s  hawks,  so  eager  for  prey, 

When  slaughter  and  flesh  all  warm  they  scent, 

Or  dew-wet  see  the  red  of  day. 


and  rök,  “doom,”  has  been  confused  with  rökkr,  “darkness,”  and 
so  translated  “dusk  of  the  Gods,”  or  “Götterdámmerung.” 

40.  In  the  manuscript  most  of  this  stanza  is  abbreviated  to 
the  first  letters  of  the  words. 

41.  Line  3  (or  possibly  line  2)  may  be  spurious.  Sword-tracks : 
wounds.  One  edition  places  stanza  48  after  stanza  41,  and  an¬ 
other  does  the  same  with  stanza  50. 

[  327  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


43.  “First  will  I  kiss 
Ere  off  the  bloody 
With  frost  thy  hair 
And  damp  thou  art 
(Ice-cold  hands 
What,  prince,  can  I 


the  lifeless  king, 
byrnie  thou  cast ; 
is  heavy,  Helgi, 
with  the  dew  of  death ; 
has  Hogni’s  kinsman, 
to  bring  thee  ease?)” 


Helgi  spake: 

44.  “Thou  alone,  Sigrun  of  Sevafjoll, 

Art  cause  that  Helgi  with  dew  is  heavy ; 
Gold-decked  maid,  thy  tears  are  grievous, 
(Sun-bright  south-maid,  ere  thou  sleepest;) 
Each  falls  like  blood  on  the  hero’s  breast, 
(Burned-out,  cold,  and  crushed  with  care.) 


45.  “Well  shall  we  drink  a  noble  draught, 
Though  love  and  lands  are  lost  to  me ; 

No  man  a  song  of  sorrow  shall  sing, 
Though  bleeding  wounds  are  on  my  breast ; 


43.  Possibly  lines  5-6  are  spurious,  or  part  of  a  stanza  the 
rest  of  which  has  been  lost.  It  has  also  been  suggested  that  two 
lines  may  have  been  lost  after  line  2,  making  a  new  stanza  of 
lines  3-6.  Kinsman:  literally  “son-in-law.” 

44.  Lines  4  and  6  have  been  marked  by  various  editors  as 
probably  spurious.  Others  regard  lines  1-2  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza  the  rest  of  which  has  been  lost,  or  combine  lines  5-6  with 
lines  5-6  of  stanza  45  to  make  a  new  stanza.  South-maid:  cf. 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  17  and  note. 

45.  Both  lines  3-4  and  lines  5-6  have  been  suspected  by  editors 
of  being  interpolated,  and  the  loss  of  two  lines  has  also  been 
suggested.  Brides:  the  plural  here  is  perplexing.  Gering  insists 
that  only  Sigrun  is  meant,  and  translates  the  word  as  singular, 
but  both  “brides”  and  “loves”  are  uncompromisingly  plural  in 

[  328  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

Now  in  the  hill  our  brides  we  hold, 

The  heroes’  loves,  by  their  husbands  dead.” 

Sigrun  made  ready  a  bed  in  the  hill. 

46.  “Here  a  bed  I  have  made  for  thee,  Helgi, 

To  rest  thee  from  care,  thou  kin  of  the  Ylfings; 
I  will  make  thee  sink  to  sleep  in  my  arms, 

As  once  I  lay  with  the  living  king.” 

Helgi  spake: 

47.  “Now  do  I  say  that  in  Sevafjoll 
Aught  may  happen,  early  or  late, 

Since  thou  sleepest  clasped  in  a  corpse’s  arms, 

So  fair  in  the  hill,  the  daughter  of  Hogni! 

(Living  thou  comest,  a  daughter  of  kings.) 

48.  “Now  must  I  ride  the  reddened  ways, 

And  my  bay  steed  set  to  tread  the  sky; 
Westward  I  go  to  wind-helm’s  bridges, 

Ere  Salgofnir  wakes  the  warrior  throng.” 

Then  Helgi  and  his  followers  rode  on  their  way,  and 


the  text.  Were  the  men  of  Helgi’s  ghostly  following  likewise  vis¬ 
ited  by  their  wives?  The  annotator  may  have  thought  so,  for  in 
the  prose  he  mentions  the  “women”  returning  to  the  house,  al¬ 
though,  of  course,  this  may  refer  simply  to  Sigrun  and  the  maid. 

47.  Line  5  (or  possibly  line  4)  may  be  interpolated. 

48.  Wind-helm:  the  sky;  the  bridge  is  Bifrost,  the  rainbow 
(cf.  Grimnismol,  29).  Salgofnir  (“Hall-Crower”)  :  the  cock  Gol- 
linkambi  who  awakes  the  gods  and  warriors  for  the  last  battle. 

[  329  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


the  women  went  home  to  the  dwelling.  Another  evening 
Sigrun  bade  the  maiden  keep  watch  at  the  hill.  And  at 
sunset  when  Sigrun  came  to  the  hill  she  said: 

49.  “Now  were  he  come,  if  come  he  might, 
Sigmund’s  son,  from  Othin’s  seat; 

Hope  grows  dim  of  the  hero’s  return 
When  eagles  sit  on  the  ash-tree  boughs, 

And  men  are  seeking  the  meeting  of  dreams.” 


The  Maiden  said: 

50.  “Mad  thou  wouldst  seem  alone  to  seek, 
Daughter  of  heroes,  the  house  of  the  dead ; 

For  mightier  now  at  night  are  all 

The  ghosts  of  the  dead  than  when  day  is  bright.” 


Sigrun  was  early  dead  of  sorrow  and  grief.  It  was 
believed  in  olden  times  that  people  were  born  again,  but 
that  is  now  called  old  wives’  folly.  Of  Helgi  and  Sigrun 
it  is  said  that  they  were  born  again;  he  became  Helgi 
Haddingjaskati,  and  she  Kara  the  daughter  of  Half  dan, 
as  is  told  in  the  Lay  of  Kara,  and  she  was  a  Valkyrie. 


49.  Many  editors  assign  this  speech  to  the  maid.  Line  5  (or  4) 
may  be  spurious.  Meeting  of  dreams  (“Dream-Thing”)  :  sleep. 

Prose.  The  attitude  of  the  annotator  is  clearly  revealed  by 
his  contempt  for  those  who  put  any  faith  in  such  “old  wives’ 
folly”  as  the  idea  that  men  and  women  could  be  reborn.  As  in  the 
case  of  Helgi  Hjorvarthsson,  the  theory  of  the  hero’s  rebirth 
seems  to  have  developed  in  order  to  unite  around  a  single  Helgi 

[  330  ] 


Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II 

the  various  stories  in  which  the  hero  is  slain.  The  Lay  of  Kara 
( Karuljoth )  is  lost,  although,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  parts  of 
the  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II  may  be  remnants  of  it,  but  we 
find  the  main  outlines  of  the  story  in  the  Hromundar  saga 
Greipssonar,  whose  compilers  appear  to  have  known  the  Karu¬ 
ljoth.  In  the  saga  Helgi  Haddingjaskati  (Helgi  the  Haddings’- 
Hero)  is  protected  by  the  Valkyrie  Kara,  who  flies  over  him  in 
the  form  of  a  swan  (note  once  more  the  Valkyrie  swan-maiden 
confusion)  ;  but  in  his  fight  with  Hromund  he  swings  his  sword 
so  high  that  he  accidentally  gives  Kara  a  mortal  wound,  where¬ 
upon  Hromund  cuts  off  his  head.  As  this  makes  the  third  recorded 
death  of  Helgi  (once  at  the  hands  of  Alf,  once  at  those  of  Dag, 
and  finally  in  the  fight  with  Hromund),  the  phenomenon  of  his 
rebirth  is  not  surprising.  The  points  of  resemblance  in  all  the 
Helgi  stories,  including  the  one  told  in  the  lost  Karuljoth,  are 
sufficiently  striking  so  that  it  is  impossible  not  to  see  in  them  a 
common  origin,  and  not  to  believe  that  Helgi  the  son  of  Hjor- 
varth,  Helgi  the  son  of  Sigmund  and  Helgi  the  Haddings’-Hero 
(not  to  mention  various  other  Helgis  who  probably  figured  in 
songs  and  stories  now  lost)  were  all  originally  the  same  Helgi 
who  appears  in  the  early  traditions  of  Denmark. 


[331  ] 


FRA  DAUTHA  SINFJOTLA 

Of  Sinfjotli  s  Death 

Introductory  Note 

It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  Helgi  tradition,  coming  origi¬ 
nally  from  Denmark,  was  early  associated  with  that  of  the 
Volsungs,  which  was  of  German,  or  rather  of  Frankish,  origin 
(cf.  Introductory  Note  to  Helgakvitha  Hjor'varthssonar) .  The 
connecting  links  between  these  two  sets  of  stories  were  few  in 
number,  the  main  point  being  the  identification  of  Helgi  as  a 
son  of  Sigmund  Volsungsson.  Another  son  of  Sigmund,  however, 
appears  in  the  Helgi  poems,  though  not  in  any  of  the  poems  deal¬ 
ing  with  the  Volsung  cycle  proper.  This  is  Sinfjotli,  whose  sole 
function  in  the  extant  Helgi  lays  is  to  have  a  wordy  dispute  with 
Gothmund  Granmarsson. 

Sinfjotli’s  history  is  told  in  detail  in  the  early  chapters  of  the 
V olsungasaga.  The  twin  sister  of  Sigmund  Volsungsson,  Signy, 
had  married  Siggeir,  who  hated  his  brother-in-law  by  reason  of 
his  desire  to  possess  a  sword  which  had  belonged  to  Othin  and 
been  won  by  Sigmund.  Having  treacherously  invited  Volsung 
and  his  ten  sons  to  visit  him,  Siggeir  slew  Volsung  and  cap¬ 
tured  his  sons,  who  were  set  in  the  stocks.  Each  night  a  wolf 
(“some  men  say  that  she  was  Siggeir’s  mother”)  came  out  of  the 
woods  and  ate  up  one  of  the  brothers,  till  on  the  tenth  night 
Sigmund  alone  was  left.  Then,  however,  Signy  aided  him  to 
escape,  and  incidentally  to  kill  the  wolf.  He  vowed  vengeance  on 
Siggeir,  and  Signy,  who  hated  her  husband,  was  determined  to 
help  him.  Convinced  that  Sigmund  must  have  a  helper  of  his 
own  race,  Signy  changed  forms  with  a  witch,  and  in  this  guise 
sought  out  Sigmund,  who,  not  knowing  who  she  was,  spent  three 
nights  with  her.  Thereafter  she  gave  birth  to  a  boy,  whom  she 
named  Sinfjotli  (“The  Yellow-Spotted”?),  whom  she  sent  to 
Sigmund.  For  a  time  they  lived  in  the  woods,  occasionally  turning 
into  wolves  (whence  perhaps  Sinfjotli’s  name).  When  Sinfjotli 
was  full  grown,  he  and  his  father  came  to  Siggeir’s  house,  but 
were  seen  and  betrayed  by  the  two  young  sons  of  Signy  and  Sig¬ 
geir,  whereupon  Sinfjotli  slew  them.  Siggeir  promptly  had  Sig¬ 
mund  and  Sinfjotli  buried  alive,  but  Signy  managed  to  smuggle 
Sigmund’s  famous  sword  into  the  grave,  and  with  this  the  father 
and  son  dug  themselves  out.  The  next  night  they  burned  Siggeir’s 

[  332  ] 


Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla 

house,  their  enemy  dying  in  the  flames,  and  Signy,  who  had  at 
the  last  refused  to  leave  her  husband,  from  a  sense  of  somewhat 
belated  loyalty,  perishing  with  him. 

Was  this  story,  which  the  V olsungasaga  relates  in  considerable 
detail,  the  basis  of  an  old  poem  which  has  been  lost?  Almost 
certainly  it  was,  although,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  many  if  not 
most  of  the  old  stories  appear  to  have  been  handed  down  rather 
in  prose  than  in  verse,  for  the  V olsungasaga  quotes  two  lines  of 
verse  regarding  the  escape  from  the  grave.  At  any  rate,  Sinfjotli 
early  became  a  part  of  the  Volsung  tradition,  which,  in  turn, 
formed  the  basis  for  no  less  than  fifteen  poems  generally  included 
in  the  Eddie  collection.  Of  this  tradition  we  may  recognize  three 
distinct  parts:  the  Volsung-Sigmund-Sinfjotli  story;  the  Helgi 
story,  and  the  Sigurth  story,  the  last  of  these  three  being  by  far 
the  most  extensive,  and  suggesting  an  almost  limitless  amount  of 
further  subdivision.  With  the  Volsung-Sigmund-Sinfjotli  story 
the  Sigurth  legend  is  connected  only  by  the  fact  that  Sigurth 
appears  as  Sigmund’s  son  by  his  last  wife,  Hjordis;  with  the 
Helgi  legend  it  is  not  connected  directly  at  all.  Aside  from  the 
fact  that  Helgi  appears  as  Sigmund’s  son  by  his  first  wife,  Borg- 
hild,  the  only  link  between  the  Volsung  story  proper  and  that  of 
Helgi  is  the  appearance  of  Sinfjotli  in  two  of  the  Helgi  poems. 
Originally  it  is  altogether  probable  that  the  three  stories,  or 
sets  of  stories,  were  entirely  distinct,  and  that  Sigurth  (the 
familiar  Siegfried)  had  little  or  nothing  more  to  do  writh  the 
Volsungs  of  northern  mythological-heroic  tradition  than  he  had 
with  Helgi. 

The  annotator  or  compiler  of  the  collection  of  poems  preserved 
in  the  Codex  Regius,  having  finished  with  the  Helgi  lays,  had 
before  him  the  task  of  setting  down  the  fifteen  complete  or  frag¬ 
mentary  poems  dealing  with  the  Sigurth  story.  Before  doing 
this,  however,  he  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  dispose  of  both 
Sigmund  and  Sinfjotli,  the  sole  links  with  the  two  other  sets 
of  stories.  He  apparently  knew  of  no  poem  or  poems  concerning 
the  deaths  of  these  two;  perhaps  there  were  none,  though  this  is 
unlikely.  Certainly  the  story  of  how  Sinfjotli  and  Sigmund  died 
was  current  in  oral  prose  tradition,  and  this  story  the  compiler  set 
forth  in  the  short  prose  passage  entitled  Of  Sinf  foil'd  s  Death 
which,  in  Regius,  immediately  follows  the  second  lay  of  Helgi 
Hundingsbane.  The  relation  of  this  passage  to  the  prose  of  the 
Reginsmol  is  discussed  in  the  introductory  note  to  that  poem. 

[  333  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sigmund,  the  son  of  Volsung,  was  a  king  in  the  land  of 
the  Franks;  Sinfjotli  was  his  eldest  son,  the  second  was 
Helgi,  and  the  third  Hamund.  Borghild,  Sigmund’s  wife, 

had  a  brother  who  was  named - .  Sinfjotli,  her  stepson, 

and - both  wooed  the  same  woman,  wherefore  Sinfjotli 

slew  him.  And  when  he  came  home,  Borghild  bade  him 
depart,  but  Sigmund  offered  her  atonement-money,  and 
this  she  had  to  accept.  At  the  funeral  feast  Borghild 
brought  in  ale;  she  took  poison,  a  great  horn  full,  and 
brought  it  to  Sinfjotli.  But  when  he  looked  into  the  horn, 
he  saw  that  it  was  poison,  and  said  to  Sigmund:  “Muddy 
is  the  drink,  Father!”  Sigmund  took  the  horn  and  drank 
therefrom.  It  is  said  that  Sigmund  was  so  hardy  that 
poison  might  not  harm  him,  either  outside  or  in,  but  all 
his  sons  could  withstand  poison  only  without  on  their  skin. 
Borghild  bore  another  horn  to  Sinfjotli  and  bade  him 
drink,  and  all  happened  as  before.  And  yet  a  third  time 
she  brought  him  a  horn,  and  spoke  therewith  scornful 


Prose.  Regarding  Sigmund,  Sinfjotli,  and  Volsung  see  Intro¬ 
ductory  Note.  The  Franks:  although  the  Sigurth  story  had 
reached  the  North  as  early  as  the  sixth  or  seventh  century,  it 
never  lost  all  the  marks  of  its  Frankish  origin.  Helgi  and 
Hamund:  sons  of  Sigmund  and  Borghild;  Helgi  is,  of  course 
Helgi  Hundingsbane ;  of  Hamund  nothing  further  is  recorded. 
Borghild:  the  manuscript  leaves  a  blank  for  the  name  of  her 
brother;  evidently  the  compiler  hoped  some  day  to  discover  it 
and  write  it  in,  but  never  did.  A  few  editions  insert  wholly 
unauthorized  names  from  late  paper  manuscripts,  such  as  Hroar, 
Gunnar,  or  Borgar.  In  the  V olsungasaga  Borghild  bids  Sinfjotli 
drink  “if  he  has  the  courage  of  a  Volsung.”  Sigmund  gives  his 
advice  because  “the  king  was  very  drunk,  and  that  was  why  he 
spoke  thus.”  Gering,  on  the  other  hand,  gives  Sigmund  credit 
for  having  believed  that  the  draught  would  deposit  its  poisonous 

L  334  1 


Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla 

words  of  him  if  he  should  not  drink  from  it.  He  spoke  as 
before  with  Sigmund.  The  latter  said:  “Let  it  trickle 
through  your  beard,  Son!”  Sinfjotli  drank,  and  straight¬ 
way  was  dead.  Sigmund  bore  him  a  long  way  in  his  arms, 
and  came  to  a  narrow  and  long  fjord,  and  there  was  a 
little  boat  and  a  man  in  it.  He  offered  to  take  Sigmund 
across  the  fjord.  But  when  Sigmund  had  borne  the  corpse 
out  into  the  boat,  then  the  craft  was  full.  The  man  told 
Sigmund  to  go  round  the  inner  end  of  the  fjord.  Then  the 
man  pushed  the  boat  off,  and  disappeared. 

King  Sigmund  dwelt  long  in  Denmark  in  Borghild’s 
kingdom  after  he  had  married  her.  Thereafter  Sigmund 
went  south  into  the  land  of  the  Franks,  to  the  kingdom 
which  he  had  there.  There  he  married  Hjordis,  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  King  Eylimi ;  their  son  was  Sigurth.  King  Sigmund 
fell  in  a  battle  with  the  sons  of  Hunding,  and  Hjordis 
then  married  Alf  the  son  of  King  Hjalprek.  There  Sigurth 
grew  up  in  his  boyhood.  Sigmund  and  all  his  sons  were 
far  above  all  other  men  in  might  and  stature  and  courage 
and  every  kind  of  ability.  Sigurth,  however,  was  the  fore¬ 
most  of  all,  and  all  men  call  him  in  the  old  tales  the 
noblest  of  mankind  and  the  mightiest  leader. 


contents  in  Sinfjotli’s  beard,  and  thus  do  him  no  harm.  Boat: 
the  man  who  thus  carries  off  the  dead  Sinfjotli  in  his  boat  is  pre¬ 
sumably  Othin.  Denmark:  Borghild  belongs  to  the  Danish  Helgi 
part  of  the  story.  The  Franks:  with  this  the  Danish  and  Norse 
stories  of  Helgi  and  Sinfjotli  come  to  an  end,  and  the  Frankish 
story  of  Sigurth  begins.  Sigmund’s  two  kingdoms  are  an  echo 
of  the  blended  traditions.  Hjordis:  just  where  this  name  came 
from  is  not  clear,  for  in  the  German  story  Siegfried’s  mother 
is  Sigelint,  but  the  name  of  the  father  of  Hjordis,  Eylimi,  gives 
a  clew,  for  Eylimi  is  the  father  of  Svava,  wife  of  Helgi  Hjor- 

[  335  J 


Poetic  Edda 


varthsson.  Doubtless  the  two  men  are  not  identical,  but  it 
seems  likely  that  both  Eylimi  and  Hjordis  were  introduced  into 
the  Sigmund-Sigurth  story,  the  latter  replacing  Sigelint,  from 
some  version  of  the  Helgi  tradition.  Hunding:  in  the  Helgi  lays 
the  sons  of  Hunding  are  all  killed,  but  they  reappear  here  and 
in  two  of  the  poems  ( Gripisspo ,  9,  and  Reginsmol,  15),  and  the 
V olsungasaga  names  Lyngvi  as  the  son  of  Hunding  who,  as  the 
rejected  lover  of  Hjordis,  kills  Sigmund  and  his  father-in-law, 
Eylimi,  as  well.  The  episode  of  Hunding  and  his  sons  belongs 
entirely  to  the  Danish  (Helgi)  part  of  the  story;  the  German 
legend  knows  nothing  of  it,  and  permits  the  elderly  Sigmund  to 
outlive  his  son.  There  was  doubtless  a  poem  on  this  battle,  for 
the  V olsungasaga  quotes  two  lines  spoken  by  the  dying  Sigmund 
to  Hjordis  before  he  tells  her  to  give  the  pieces  of  his  broken 
sword  to  their  unborn  son.  Alf:  after  the  battle,  according  to  the 
V olsungasaga,  Lyngvi  Hundingsson  tried  to  capture  Hjordis,  but 
she  was  rescued  by  the  sea-rover  Alf,  son  of  King  Hjalprek  of 
Denmark,  who  subsequently  married  her.  Here  is  another  trace 
of  the  Danish  Helgi  tradition.  The  N ornageststhattr  briefly  tells 
the  same  story. 


[  336] 


GRIPISSPO 

Gripirs  Prophecy 


Introductory  Note 

The  Gripisspo  immediately  follows  the  prose  Fra  Dautha 
Sinfjotla  in  the  Codex  Regius,  and  is  contained  in  no  other  early 
manuscript.  It  is  unquestionably  one  of  the  latest  of  the  poems 
in  the  Eddie  collection;  most  critics  agree  in  calling  it  the  latest 
of  all,  dating  it  not  much  before  the  year  1200.  Its  author  (for 
in  this  instance  the  word  may  be  correctly  used)  was  not  only 
familiar  with  the  other  poems  of  the  Sigurth  cycle,  but  seems  to 
have  had  actual  written  copies  of  them  before  him;  it  has,  indeed, 
been  suggested,  and  not  without  plausibility,  that  the  Gripisspo 
may  have  been  written  by  the  very  man  who  compiled  and  anno¬ 
tated  the  collection  of  poems  preserved  in  the  Codex  Regius. 

In  form  the  poem  is  a  dialogue  between  the  youthful  Sigurth 
and  his  uncle,  Gripir,  but  in  substance  it  is  a  condensed  outline 
of  Sigurth’s  whole  career  as  told  piecemeal  in  the  older  poems. 
The  writer  was  sufficiently  skillful  in  the  handling  of  verse,  but 
he  was  utterly  without  inspiration;  his  characters  are  devoid  of 
vitality,  and  their  speeches  are  full  of  conventional  phrases, 
with  little  force  or  incisiveness.  At  the  same  time,  the  poem  is  of 
considerable  interest  as  giving,  in  brief  form,  a  summary  of  the 
story  of  Sigurth  as  it  existed  in  Iceland  (for  the  Gripisspo  is 
almost  certainly  Icelandic)  in  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

It  is  not  desirable  here  to  go  in  detail  into  the  immensely 
complex  question  of  the  origin,  growth,  and  spread  of  the  story  of 
Sigurth  (Siegfried).  The  volume  of  critical  literature  on  the 
subject  is  enormous,  and  although  some  of  the  more  patently 
absurd  theories  have  been  eliminated,  there  are  still  wide  diver¬ 
gencies  of  opinion  regarding  many  important  points.  At  the  same 
time,  a  brief  review  of  the  chief  facts  is  necessary  in  order  to 
promote  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  poems  which  follow,  and 
which  make  up  more  than  a  third  of  the  Eddie  collection. 

That  the  story  of  Sigurth  reached  the  North  from  Germany, 
having  previously  developed  among  the  Franks  of  the  Rhine 
country,  is  now  universally  recognized.  How  and  when  it  spread 
from  northwestern  Germany  into  Scandinavia  are  less  certainly 
known.  It  spread,  indeed,  in  every  direction,  so  that  traces  of  it 

[  337  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


are  found  wherever  Frankish  influence  was  extensively  felt;  but 
it  was  clearly  better  known  and  more  popular  in  Norway,  and  in 
the  settlements  established  by  Norwegians,  than  anywhere  else. 
We  have  historical  proof  that  there  was  considerable  contact, 
commercial  and  otherwise,  between  the  Franks  of  northwestern 
Germany  and  the  Norwegians  (but  not  the  Swedes  or  the  Danes) 
throughout  the  period  from  600  to  800;  coins  of  Charlemagne 
have  been  found  in  Norway,  and  there  is  other  evidence  show¬ 
ing  a  fairly  extensive  interchange  of  ideas  as  well  as  of  goods. 
Presumably,  then,  the  story  of  the  Frankish  hero  found  its  way 
into  Norway  in  the  seventh  century.  While,  at  this  stage  of  its 
development,  it  may  conceivably  have  included  a  certain  amount 
of  verse,  it  is  altogether  probable  that  the  story  as  it  came  into 
Norway  in  the  seventh  century  was  told  largely  in  prose,  and 
that,  even  after  the  poets  had  got  hold  of  it,  the  legend  continued 
to  live  among  the  people  in  the  form  of  oral  prose  saga. 

The  complete  lack  of  contemporary  material  makes  it  impos¬ 
sible  for  us  to  speak  with  certainty  regarding  the  character  and 
content  of  the  Sigurth  legend  as  it  existed  in  the  Rhine  country 
in  the  seventh  century.  It  is,  however,  important  to  remember 
the  often  overlooked  fact  that  any  popular  traditional  hero  be¬ 
came  a  magnet  for  originally  unrelated  stories  of  every  kind.  It 
must  also  be  remembered  that  in  the  early  Middle  Ages  there 
existed  no  such  distinction  between  fiction  and  history  as  we  now 
make;  a  saga,  for  instance,  might  be  anything  from  the  most 
meticulously  accurate  history  to  the  wildest  of  fairy  tales,  and  a 
single  saga  might  (and  sometimes  did)  combine  both  elements. 
This  was  equally  true  of  the  Frankish  traditions,  and  the  two 
principles  just  stated  account  for  most  of  the  puzzling  phenomena 
in  the  growth  of  the  Sigurth  story. 

Of  the  origin  of  Sigurth  himself  we  know  absolutely  nothing. 
No  historical  analogy  can  be  made  to  fit  in  the  slightest  degree. 
If  one  believes  in  the  possibility  of  resolving  hero  stories  into 
nature  myths,  he  may  be  explained  in  that  fashion,  but  such  a 
solution  is  not  necessary.  The  fact  remains  that  from  very  early 
days  Sigurth  (Sifrit)  was  a  great  traditional  hero  among  the 
Franks.  The  tales  of  his  strength  and  valor,  of  his  winning  of  a 
great  treasure,  of  his  wooing  a  more  or  less  supernatural  bride, 
and  of  his  death  at  the  hands  of  his  kinsmen,  probably  were  early 
features  of  this  legend. 

The  next  step  was  the  blending  of  this  story  with  one  which 

[  338  ] 


Gripisspo 

had  a  clear  basis  in  history.  In  the  year  437  the  Burgundians, 
under  their  king,  Gundicarius  (so  the  Latin  histories  call  him), 
were  practically  annihilated  by  the  Huns.  The  story  of  this  great 
battle  soon  became  one  of  the  foremost  of  Rhineland  traditions; 
and  though  Attila  was  presumably  not  present  in  person,  he  was 
quite  naturally  introduced  as  the  famous  ruler  of  the  invading 
hordes.  The  dramatic  story  of  Attila’s  death  in  the  year  453  was 
likewise  added  to  the  tradition,  and  during  the  sixth  century  the 
chain  was  completed  by  linking  together  the  stories  of  Sigurth 
and  those  of  the  Burgundian  slaughter.  Gundicarius  becomes  the 
Gunther  of  the  Nibelimgenlied  and  the  Gunnar  of  the  Eddie 
poems;  Attila  becomes  Etzel  and  Atli.  A  still  further  develop¬ 
ment  came  through  the  addition  of  another,  and  totally  unrelated, 
set  of  historical  traditions  based  on  the  career  of  Ermanarich, 
king  of  the  Goths,  who  died  about  the  year  376.  Ermanarich 
figures  largely  in  many  stories  unconnected  with  the  Sigurth 
cycle,  but,  with  the  zeal  of  the  medieval  story-tellers  for  con¬ 
necting  their  heroes,  he  was  introduced  as  the  husband  of  Si- 
gurth’s  daughter,  Svanhild,  herself  originally  part  of  a  separate 
narrative  group,  and  as  Jormunrek  he  plays  a  considerable  part 
in  a  few  of  the  Eddie  poems. 

Such,  briefly,  appears  to  have  been  the  development  of  the 
legend  before  it  came  into  Norway.  Here  it  underwent  many 
changes,  though  the  clear  marks  of  its  southern  origin  were 
never  obliterated.  The  names  were  given  Scandinavian  forms, 
and  in  some  cases  were  completely  changed  (e.g.,  Kriemhild 
becomes  Guthrun).  New  figures,  mostly  of  secondary  impor¬ 
tance,  were  introduced,  and  a  large  amount  of  purely  Northern 
local  color  was  added.  Above  all,  the  earlier  part  of  the  story 
was  linked  with  Northern  mythology  in  a  way  which  seems  to 
have  had  no  counterpart  among  the  southern  Germanic  peoples. 
The  Volsungs  become  direct  descendants  of  Othin;  the  gods  are 
closely  concerned  with  Fafnir’s  treasure,  and  so  on.  Above  all, 
the  Norse  story-tellers  and  poets  changed  the  figure  of  Brynhild. 
In  making  her  a  Valkyrie,  sleeping  on  the  flame-girt  rock,  they 
were  never  completely  successful,  as  she  persisted  in  remaining, 
to  a  considerable  extent,  the  entirely  human  daughter  of  Buthli 
whom  Sigurth  woos  for  Gunnar.  This  confusion,  intensified  by 
a  mixing  of  names  (cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  introductory  note),  and 
much  resembling  that  which  existed  in  the  parallel  cases  of 
Svava  and  Sigrun  in  the  Helgi  tradition,  created  difficulties 

[  339  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


which  the  Norse  poets  and  story-tellers  were  never  able  to  smooth 
out,  and  which  have  perplexed  commentators  ever  since. 

Those  who  read  the  Sigurth  poems  in  the  Edda,  or  the  story 
told  in  the  Volsungasaga,  expecting  to  find  a  critically  accurate 
biography  of  the  hero,  will,  of  course,  be  disappointed.  If,  how¬ 
ever,  they  will  constantly  keep  in  mind  the  general  manner  in 
which  the  legend  grew,  its  accretions  ranging  all  the  way  from 
the  Danube  to  Iceland,  they  will  find  that  most  of  the  difficulties 
are  simply  the  natural  results  of  conflicting  traditions.  Just  as 
the  Danish  Helgi  had  to  be  “reborn”  twice  in  order  to  enable 
three  different  men  to  kill  him,  so  the  story  of  Sigurth,  as  told  in 
the  Eddie  poems,  involves  here  and  there  inconsistencies  explica¬ 
ble  only  when  the  historical  development  of  the  story  is  taken 
into  consideration. 


Gripir  was  the  name  of  Eylimi’s  son,  the  brother  of 
Hjordis;  he  ruled  over  lands  and  was  of  all  men  the 
wisest  and  most  forward-seeing.  Sigurth  once  was  rid¬ 
ing  alone  and  came  to  Gripir’s  hall.  Sigurth  was  easy 
to  recognize;  he  found  out  in  front  of  the  hall  a  man 
whose  name  was  Geitir.  Then  Sigurth  questioned  him 
and  asked : 

i.  “Who  is  it  has  this  dwelling  here, 

Or  what  do  men  call  the  people’s  king?” 


Prose.  The  manuscript  gives  the  poem  no  title.  Gripir:  this 
uncle  of  Sigurth’s  was  probably  a  pure  invention  of  the  poet’s. 
The  Volsungasaga  mentions  him,  but  presumably  only  because 
of  his  appearance  here.  On  Eylimi  and  Hjordis  see  Fra  Dautha 
Sinfjotla  and  note.  Geitir,  the  serving-man,  is  likewise  apparently 
an  invention  of  the  poet’s. 

i.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers  anywhere 
in  the  poem.  Some  editors  have  made  separate  stanzas  out  of  the 
two-line  speeches  in  stanzas  i,  3  and  6. 

[  340  ] 


Gripisspo 


Geitir  spake: 

“Gripir  the  name  of  the  chieftain  good 
Who  holds  the  folk  and  the  firm-ruled  land.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

2.  “Is  the  king  all-knowing  now  within, 

Will  the  monarch  come  with  me  to  speak  ? 

A  man  unknown  his  counsel  needs, 

And  Gripir  fain  I  soon  would  find.” 

Geitir  spake : 

3.  “The  ruler  glad  of  Geitir  will  ask 
Who  seeks  with  Gripir  speech  to  have.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

“Sigurth  am  I,  and  Sigmund’s  son, 

And  Hjordis  the  name  of  the  hero’s  mother.” 

4.  Then  Geitir  went  and  to  Gripir  spake: 

“A  stranger  comes  and  stands  without; 

Lofty  he  is  to  look  upon, 

And,  prince,  thyself  he  fain  would  see.” 

5.  From  the  hall  the  ruler  of  heroes  went, 


3.  Sigurth:  a  few  editions  use  in  the  verse  the  older  form  of 
this  name,  “Sigvorth,”  though  the  manuscript  here  keeps  to  the 
form  used  in  this  translation.  The  Old  High  German  “Sigifrid” 
(“Peace-Bringer  through  Victory”)  became  the  Norse  “Sigvorth” 
(“Victory-Guarder”),  this,  in  turn,  becoming  “Sigurth.” 

4.  Bugge  thinks  a  stanza  has  been  lost  after  stanza  4,  in  which 
Geitir  tells  Gripir  who  Sigurth  is. 

[341] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  greeted  well  the  warrior  come: 

“Sigurth,  welcome  long  since  had  been  thine; 
Now,  Geitir,  shalt  thou  Grani  take.” 

6.  Then  of  many  things  they  talked, 

When  thus  the  men  so  wise  had  met. 

Sigurth  spake: 

“To  me,  if  thou  knowest,  my  mother’s  brother, 
Say  what  life  will  Sigurth’s  be.” 

Gripir  spake: 

7.  “Of  men  thou  shalt  be  on  earth  the  mightiest, 
And  higher  famed  than  all  the  heroes; 

Free  of  gold-giving,  slow  to  flee, 

Noble  to  see,  and  sage  in  speech.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

8.  “Monarch  wise,  now  more  I  ask; 

To  Sigurth  say,  if  thou  thinkest  to  see, 

What  first  will  chance  of  my  fortune  fair, 
When  hence  I  go  from  out  thy  home?” 

Gripir  spake: 

9.  “First  shalt  thou,  prince,  thy  father  avenge, 

And  Eylimi,  their  ills  requiting; 


5.  Grani:  Sigurth’s  horse.  According  to  the  V olsungasaga  his 
father  was  Sleipnir,  Othin’s  eight-legged  horse,  and  Othin  him¬ 
self  gave  him  to  Sigurth.  The  introductory  note  to  the  Reginsmol 
tells  a  different,  story. 

9.  Thy  father:  on  the  death  of  Sigmund  and  Eylimi  at  the 
hands  of  Hunding’s  sons  see  Fra  Dantha  Sinfjotla  and  note. 

[  342  ] 


Gripisspo 

The  hardy  sons  of  Hunding  thou 
Soon  shalt  fell,  and  victory  find.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

10.  “Noble  king,  my  kinsman,  say 

Thy  meaning  true,  for  our  minds  we  speak: 
For  Sigurth  mighty  deeds  dost  see, 

The  highest  beneath  the  heavens  all  ?” 

Gripir  spake : 

11.  “The  fiery  dragon  alone  thou  shalt  fight 

That  greedy  lies  at  Gnitaheith; 

Thou  shalt  be  of  Regin  and  Fafnir  both 
The  slayer;  truth  doth  Gripir  tell  thee.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

12.  “Rich  shall  I  be  if  battles  I  win 

With  such  as  these,  as  now  thou  sayest; 
Forward  look,  and  further  tell: 

What  the  life  that  I  shall  lead  ?” 


Gripir  spake : 

13.  “Fafnir’s  den  thou  then  shalt  find, 
And  all  his  treasure  fair  shalt  take; 


11.  The  dragon:  Fafnir,  brother  of  the  dwarf  Regin,  who 
turns  himself  into  a  dragon  to  guard  Andvari’s  hoard;  cf. 
Reginsmol  and  Fafnismol.  Gnitaheith:  a  relic  of  the  German 
tradition;  it  has  been  identified  as  lying  south  of  Paderborn. 

13.  Gjuki:  the  Norse  form  of  the  name  Gibeche  (“The 
Giver”).  Gjuki  is  the  father  of  Gunnar,  Hogni,  and  Guthrun, 
the  family  which  reflects  most  directly  the  Burgundian  part  of 

[343  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Gold  shalt  heap  on  Grani’s  back, 

And,  proved  in  fight,  to  Gjuki  fare.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

14.  “To  the  warrior  now  in  words  so  wise, 
Monarch  noble,  more  shalt  tell; 

I  am  Gjuki’s  guest,  and  thence  I  go: 
What  the  life  that  I  shall  lead?” 


Gripir  spake: 

15.  “On  the  rocks  there  sleeps  the  ruler’s  daughter, 
Fair  in  armor,  since  Helgi  fell; 

Thou  shalt  cut  with  keen-edged  sword, 

And  cleave  the  byrnie  with  Fafnir’s  killer.” 


the  tradition  (cf.  Introductory  Note).  The  statement  that  Sigurth 
is  to  go  direct  from  the  slaying  of  Fafnir  to  Gjuki’s  hall  in¬ 
volves  one  of  the  confusions  resulting  from  the  dual  personality 
of  Brynhild.  In  the  older  (and  the  original  South  Germanic) 
story,  Sigurth  becomes  a  guest  of  the  Gjukungs  before  he  has 
ever  heard  of  Brynhild,  and  first  sees  her  when,  having  changed 
forms  with  Gunnar,  he  goes  to  woo  her  for  the  latter.  In  an¬ 
other  version  he  finds  Brynhild  before  he  visits  the  Gjukungs, 
only  to  forget  her  as  the  result  of  the  magic  draught  adminis¬ 
tered  by  Guthrun’s  mother.  Both  these  versions  are  represented 
in  the  poems  of  which  the  author  of  the  Gripisspo  made  use,  and 
he  tried,  rather  clumsily,  to  combine  them,  by  having  Sigurth  go 
to  Gjuki’s  house,  then  find  the  unnamed  Valkyrie,  and  then  return 
to  Gjuki,  the  false  wooing  following  this  second  visit. 

15.  Basing  his  story  on  the  Sigrdrifumol,  the  poet  here  tells  of 
Sigurth’s  finding  of  the  Valkyrie,  whom  he  does  not  identify 
with  Brynhild,  daughter  of  Buthli  (stanza  27),  at  all.  His  error 
in  this  respect  is  not  surprising,  in  view  of  Brynhild’s  dual  iden¬ 
tity  (cf.  Introductory  Note,  and  Fafnismol,  44  and  note). 

[  344  ] 


Gripisspo 

Sigurth  spake: 

1 6.  “The  mail-coat  is  broken,  the  maiden  speaks, 
The  woman  who  from  sleep  has  wakened ; 
What  says  the  maid  to  Sigurth  then 

That  happy  fate  to  the  hero  brings?” 

Gripir  spake : 

17.  “Runes  to  the  warrior  will  she  tell, 

All  that  men  may  ever  seek, 

And  teach  thee  to  speak  in  all  men’s  tongues, 
And  life  with  health;  thou’rt  happy,  king!” 

Sigurth  spake: 

18.  “Now  is  it  ended,  the  knowledge  is  won, 

And  ready  I  am  forth  thence  to  ride; 

Forward  look  and  further  tell: 

What  the  life  that  I  shall  lead?” 

Gripir  spake: 

19.  “Then  to  Heimir’s  home  thou  comest, 

And  glad  shalt  be  the  guest  of  the  king; 


Helgi :  according  to  Helreith  Brynhildar  (stanza  8),  with  wdiich 
the  author  of  the  Gripisspo  was  almost  certainly  familiar, 
the  hero  for  whose  death  Brynhild  was  punished  was  named 
Hjalmgunnar.  Is  Helgi  here  identical  with  Hjalmgunnar,  or 
did  the  author  make  a  mistake?  Finnur  Jonsson  thinks  the  author 
regarded  Sigurth’s  Valkyrie  as  a  fourth  incarnation  of  Svava- 
Sigrun-Kara,  and  wrote  Helgi’s  name  in  deliberately.  Many 
editors,  following  Bugge,  have  tried  to  reconstruct  line  2  so  as 
to  get  rid  of  Helgi’s  name. 

19.  Heimir:  the  V  olsungasaga  says  that  Heimir  was  the  hus¬ 
band  of  Brynhild’s  sister,  Bekkhild.  Brynhild’s  family  connections 

[  345  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Ended,  Sigurth,  is  all  I  see, 

No  further  aught  of  Gripir  ask.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

20.  “Sorrow  brings  me  the  word  thou  sayest, 

For,  monarch,  forward  further  thou  seest ; 

Sad  the  grief  for  Sigurth  thou  knowest, 

Yet  nought  to  me,  Gripir,  known  wilt  make.” 


Gripir  spake: 

21.  “Before  me  lay  in  clearest  light 

All  of  thy  youth  for  mine  eyes  to  see ; 
Not  rightly  can  I  wise  be  called, 

Nor  forward-seeing;  my  wisdom  is  fled.” 


22. 


Sigurth  spake: 
“No  man,  Gripir, 
Who  sees  the  future 
Hide  thou  nought, 
And  base  the  deeds 


on  earth  I  know 
as  far  as  thou ; 
though  hard  it  be, 
that  I  shall  do.” 


Gripir  spake: 

23.  “With  baseness  never  thy  life  is  burdened, 


involve  a  queer  mixture  of  northern  and  southern  legend.  Heimir 
and  Bekkhild  are  purely  of  northern  invention;  neither  of  them 
is  mentioned  in  any  of  the  earlier  poems,  though  Brynhild  speaks 
of  her  “foster-father”  in  Helreith  Brynhildar.  In  the  older  Norse 
poems  Brynhild  is  a  sister  of  Atli  (Attila),  a  relationship  wholly 
foreign  to  the  southern  stories,  and  the  father  of  this  strangely 
assorted  pair  is  Buthli,  who  in  the  Nib  elan  genlied  is  apparently 
Etzel’s  grandfather.  Add  to  this  her  role  of  Valkyrie,  and  it  is 
small  wonder  that  the  annotator  himself  was  puzzled. 

[346  ] 


Gripisspo 


Hero  noble, 
Lofty  as  long 
Battle-bringer, 


hold  that  sure; 
as  the  world  shall  live, 
thy  name  shall  be.” 


Sigurth  spake: 

24.  “Nought  could  seem  worse,  but  now  must  part 
The  prince  and  Sigurth,  since  so  it  is; 

My  road  I  ask, —  the  future  lies  open, — 

Mighty  one,  speak,  my  mother’s  brother.” 

Gripir  spake: 

25.  “Nov/  to  Sigurth  all  shall  I  say, 

For  to  this  the  warrior  bends  my  will; 

Thou  knowest  well  that  I  will  not  lie, — 

A  day  there  is  when  thy  death  is  doomed.” 


Sigurth  spake: 

26.  “No  scorn  I  know 
But  counsel  good 
Well  will  I  know, 
What  Sigurth  may 

Gripir  spake: 

27.  “A  maid  in  Heimir’s 
Brynhild  her  name 
Daughter  of-  Buthli, 
And  Heimir  fosters 


for  the  noble  king, 
from  Gripir  I  seek; 
though  evil  awaits, 
before  him  see.” 


home  there  dwells, 
to  men  is  known, 
the  doughty  king, 
the  fearless  maid.” 


27.  Brynhild.  (“Armed  Warrior”)  :  on  her  and  her  family  see 
Introductory  Note  and  note  to  stanza  19. 


[  347  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sigurth  spake: 

28.  “What  is  it  to  me,  though  the  maiden  be 
So  fair,  and  of  Heimir  the  fosterling  is? 
Gripir,  truth  to  me  shalt  tell, 

For  all  of  fate  before  me  thou  seest.” 


Gripir  spake: 

29.  “Of  many  a  joy  the  maiden  robs  thee, 

Fair  to  see,  whom  Heimir  fosters; 

Sleep  thou  shalt  find  not,  feuds  thou  shalt  end 
not, 

Nor  seek  out  men,  if  the  maid  thou  seest  not.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

30.  “What  may  be  had 
Say  now,  Gripir, 

May  I  buy  the  maid 
The  daughter  fair 

Gripir  spake: 

31.  “Ye  twain  shall  all  the  oaths  then  swear 
That  bind  full  fast;  few  shall  ye  keep; 

One  night  when  Gjuki’s  guest  thou  hast  been, 
Will  Heimir’s  fosterling  fade  from  thy  mind.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

32.  “What  sayst  thou,  Gripir?  give  me  the  truth, 
Does  fickleness  hide  in  the  hero’s  heart? 

Can  it  be  that  troth  I  break  with  the  maid, 

With  her  I  believed  I  loved  so  dear?” 


for  Sigurth’s  healing? 
if  see  thou  canst ; 

with  the  marriage-price, 
of  the  chieftain  famed?” 


[  348  ] 


Gripisspo 

Gripir  spake: 

33.  “Tricked  by  another,  prince,  thou  art, 

And  the  price  of  Grimhild’s  wiles  thou  must  pay; 
Fain  of  thee  for  the  fair-haired  maid, 

Her  daughter,  she  is,  and  she  drags  thee  down.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

34.  “Might  I  with  Gunnar  kinship  make, 

And  Guthrun  win  to  be  my  wife, 

Well  the  hero  wedded  would  be, 

If  my  treacherous  deed  would  trouble  me  not.” 

Gripir  spake: 

35.  “Wholly  Grimhild  thy  heart  deceives, 

She  will  bid  thee  go  and  Brynhild  woo 
For  Gunnar’s  wife,  the  lord  of  the  Goths; 

And  the  prince’s  mother  thy  promise  shall  win.” 


33.  Most  editions  have  no  comma  after  line  3,  and  change 
the  meaning  to  “Fain  of  thee  the  fair-haired  one  /  For  her 
daughter  is.”  Grimhild:  in  the  northern  form  of  the  story  Kriem- 
hild,  Gunther’s  sister  and  Siegfried’s  wife,  becomes  Grimhild, 
mother  of  Gunnar  and  Guthrun,  the  latter  taking  Kriemhild’s 
place.  The  V olsungasaga  tells  how  Grimhild  gave  Sigurth  a 
magic  draught  which  made  him  utterly  forget  Brynhild.  Edzardi 
thinks  two  stanzas  have  been  lost  after  stanza  33,  their  remains 
appearing  in  stanza  37. 

35.  In  the  V olsungasaga  Grimhild  merely  advises  Gunnar  to 
seek  Brynhild  for  his  wife,  and  to  have  Sigurth  ride  with  him. 
Goths:  the  historical  Gunnar  (Gundicarius,  cf.  Introductory 
Note)  was  not  a  Goth,  but  a  Burgundian,  but  the  word  “Goth” 
was  applied  in  the  North  without  much  discrimination  to  the 
southern  Germanic  peoples. 


[  349  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sigurth  spake: 

36.  “Evil  waits  me,  well  I  see  it, 

And  gone  is  Sigurth’s  wisdom  good, 

If  I  shall  woo  for  another  to  win 
The  maiden  fair  that  so  fondly  I  loved.” 


37- 


Gripir  spake: 


“Ye  three  shall  all 
Gunnar  and  Hogni, 
Your  forms  ye  shall 
Gunnar  and  thou ; 


the  oaths  then  take, 
and,  hero,  thou; 
change,  as  forth  ye  fare, 
for  Gripir  lies  not.” 


Sigurth  spake: 

38.  “How  meanest  thou? 
Of  shape  and  form 
There  must  follow 
Grim  in  all  ways; 


Why  make  we  the  change 
as  forth  we  fare  ? 
another  falsehood 
speak  on,  Gripir!” 


37.  In  the  Nihelungenlied  Siegfried  merely  makes  himself  in¬ 
visible  in  order  to  lend  Gunther  his  strength  for  the  feats  which 
must  be  performed  in  order  to  win  the  redoubtable  bride.  In  the 
northern  version  Sigurth  and  Gunnar  change  forms,  “as  Grim- 
hild  had  taught  them  how  to  do.”  The  V olsungasaga  tells  how 
Sigurth  and  Gunnar  came  to  Heimir,  who  told  them  that  to  win 
Brynhild  one  must  ride  through  the  ring  of  fire  which  surrounded 
her  hall  (cf.  the  hall  of  Mengloth  in  Svipdagsmol) .  Gunnar 
tries  it,  but  his  horse  balks;  then  he  mounts  Grani,  but  Grani 
will  not  stir  for  him.  So  they  change  forms,  and  Sigurth  rides 
Grani  through  the  flames.  Oaths:  the  blood-brotherhood  sworn 
by  Sigurth,  Gunnar,  and  Hogni  makes  it  impossible  for  the 
brothers  to  kill  him  themselves,  but  they  finally  get  around  the 
difficulty  by  inducing  their  half-brother,  Gotthorm  (cf.  Hynd- 
luljoth,  27  and  note)  to  do  it. 


[  350  ] 


Gripisspo 

Gripir  spake: 

39.  “The  form  of  Gunnar  and  shape  thou  gettest, 
But  mind  and  voice  thine  own  remain ; 

The  hand  of  the  fosterling  noble  of  Heimir 
Now  dost  thou  win,  and  none  can  prevent.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

40.  “Most  evil  it  seems,  and  men  will  say 
Base  is  Sigurth  that  so  he  did ; 

Not  of  my  will  shall  I  cheat  with  wiles 
The  heroes’  maiden  whom  noblest  I  hold.” 

Gripir  spake: 

41.  “Thou  dwellest,  leader  lofty  of  men, 

With  the  maid  as  if  thy  mother  she  were; 
Lofty  as  long  as  the  world  shall  live, 

Ruler  of  men,  thy  name  shall  remain.” 


39.  The  last  half  of  line  4  is  obscure,  and  the  reading  is 
conjectural. 

41.  Something  is  clearly  wrong  with  stanzas  41-43.  In  the 
manuscript  the  order  is  41,  43,  42,  which  brings  two  of  Gripir’s 
answers  together,  followed  by  two  of  Sigurth’s  questions.  Some 
editors  have  arranged  the  stanzas  as  in  this  translation,  while 
others  have  interchanged  41  and  43.  In  any  case,  Sigurth  in 
stanza  42  asks  about  the  “three  nights”  which  Gripir  has  never 
mentioned.  I  suspect  that  lines  3-4  of  stanza  41,  which  are  prac¬ 
tically  identical  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  23,  got  in  here  by  mis¬ 
take,  replacing  two  lines  which  may  have  run  thus:  “With  thy 
sword  between,  three  nights  thou  sleepest  /  With  her  thou 
winnest  for  Gunnar’s  wife.”  The  subsequent  poems  tell  how 
Sigurth  laid  his  sword  Gram  between  himself  and  Brynhild. 

[351  J 


Poetic  Edda 


Sigurth  spake: 

42.  “Shall  Gunnar  have 
Famed  among  men, — 
Although  at  my  side 
The  warrior’s  bride? 


a  goodly  wife, 

speak  forth  now,  Gripir! 
three  nights  she  slept, 

Such  ne’er  has  been.” 


Gripir  spake: 

43.  “The  marriage  draught  will  be  drunk  for  both, 
For  Sigurth  and  Gunnar,  in  Gjuki’s  hall; 

Your  forms  ye  change,  when  home  ye  fare, 

But  the  mind  of  each  to  himself  remains.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

44.  “Shall  the  kinship  new  thereafter  come 
To  good  among  us?  Tell  me,  Gripir! 

To  Gunnar  joy  shall  it  later  give, 

Or  happiness  send  for  me  myself?” 


Gripir  spake: 

45.  “Thine  oaths  remembering,  silent  thou  art, 
And  dwellest  with  Guthrun  in  wedlock  good ; 
But  Brynhild  shall  deem  she  is  badly  mated, 
And  wiles  she  seeks,  herself  to  avenge.” 


43.  The  simultaneous  weddings  of  Sigurth  and  Gunnar  form 
a  memorable  feature  of  the  German  tradition  as  it  appears  in 
the  Nibelungenlied,  but  in  the  V olsungasaga  Sigurth  marries 
Guthrun  before  he  sets  oif  with  Gunnar  to  win  Brynhild. 

45.  According  to  the  V olsungasaga,  Sigurth  remembers  his 
oaths  to  Brynhild  almost  immediately  after  his  return  to  Gunnar’s 
house.  Brynhild,  on  the  other  hand,  knows  nothing  until  the 

[  352  ] 


Gripisspo 

Sigurth  spake: 

46.  “What  may  for  the  bride  requital  be, 

The  wife  we  won  with  subtle  wiles? 

From  me  she  has  the  oaths  I  made, 

And  kept  not  long;  they  gladdened  her  little.” 


Gripir  spake: 

47.  “To  Gunnar  soon  his  bride  will  say 
That  ill  didst  thou  thine  oath  fulfill, 

When  the  goodly  king,  the  son  of  Gjuki, 
With  all  his  heart  the  hero  trusted.” 


Sigurth  spake: 

48.  “What  sayst  thou,  Gripir?  give  me  the  truth! 
Am  I  guilty  so  as  now  is  said, 


famous  quarrel  between  herself  and  Guthrun  at  the  bath  (an¬ 
other  reminiscence  of  the  German  story),  when  she  taunts 
Guthrun  with  Sigurth’s  inferiority  to  Gunnar,  and  Guthrun  re¬ 
torts  with  the  statement  that  it  was  Sigurth,  and  not  Gunnar, 
who  rode  through  the  flames. 

47.  Brynhild  tells  Gunnar  that  Sigurth  really  possessed  her 
during  the  three  nights  when  he  slept  by  her  in  Gunnar’s  form, 
thus  violating  his  oath.  Here  again  there  is  a  confusion  of  two 
traditions.  If  Sigurth  did  not  meet  Brynhild  until  after  his  oath 
to  Gunnar  (cf.  note  on  stanza  13),  Brynhild’s  charge  is  entirely 
false,  as  she  herself  admits  in  Helreith  Brynhildar.  On  the  other 
hand,  according  to  the  version  in  which  Sigurth  finds  Brynhild 
before  he  meets  Gjuki’s  sons,  their  union  was  not  only  com¬ 
pleted,  but  she  had  by  him  a  daughter,  Aslaug,  whom  she  leaves 
in  Heimir’s  charge  before  going  to  become  Gunnar’s  wife.  This 
is  the  V olsungasaga  version,  and  thus  the  statement  Brynhild 
makes  to  Gunnar,  as  a  result  of  which  Sigurth  is  slain,  is  quite 
true. 


[  353  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Or  lies  does  the  far-famed  queen  put  forth 
Of  me  and  herself?  Yet  further  speak.” 

Gripir  spake: 

49.  “In  wrath  and  grief  full  little  good 
The  noble  bride  shall  work  thee  now; 

No  shame  thou  gavest  the  goodly  one, 

Though  the  monarch’s  wife  with  wiles  didst 

cheat.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

50.  “Shall  Gunnar  the  wise  to  the  woman’s  words, 
And  Gotthorm  and  Hogni,  then  give  heed  ? 
Shall  Gjuki’s  sons,  now  tell  me,  Gripir, 

Redden  their  blades  with  their  kinsman’s  blood  ?” 

Gripir  spake: 

51.  “Heavy  it  lies  on  Guthrun’s  heart, 

When  her  brothers  all  shall  bring  thee  death ; 
Never  again  shall  she  happiness  know, 

The  woman  so  fair;  ’tis  Grimhild’s  work.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

52.  “Now  fare  thee  well!  our  fates  we  shun  not; 
And  well  has  Gripir  answered  my  wish ; 

More  of  joy  to  me  wouldst  tell 

Of  my  life  to  come  if  so  thou  couldst.” 


50.  Gotthorm:  Gunnar’s  half-brother,  and  slayer  of  Sigurth. 
52.  The  manuscript  has  stanzas  52  and  53  in  inverse  order. 

[  354  ] 


Gripisspo 

Gripir  spake: 

53.  “Ever  remember,  ruler  of  men, 

That  fortune  lies  in  the  hero’s  life; 

A  nobler  man  shall  never  live 

Beneath  the  sun  than  Sigurth  shall  seem.” 


[355] 


REGINSMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Re  gin 

Introductory  Note 

The  Reginsmol  immediately  follows  the  Gripisspo  in  the 
Codex  Regius,  and  in  addition  stanzas  i,  2,  6,  and  18  are  quoted 
in  the  Volsungasaga,  and  stanzas  13-26  in  the  Nornageststhattr. 
In  no  instance  is  the  title  of  the  poem  stated,  and  in  Regius  there 
stands  before  the  introductory  prose,  very  faintly  written,  what 
appears  to  be  “Of  Sigurth.”  As  a  result,  various  titles  have  been 
affixed  to  it,  the  two  most  often  used  being  “the  Ballad  of 
Regin”  and  “the  First  Lay  of  Sigurth  Fafnisbane.” 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  the  compiler 
of  the  Eddie  collection  regarded  this  or  either  of  the  two  fol¬ 
lowing  poems,  the  Fafnistnol  and  the  Sigrdrifumol,  as  separate 
and  distinct  poems  at  all.  There  are  no  specific  titles  given,  and 
the  prose  notes  link  the  three  poems  in  a  fairly  consecutive 
whole.  Furthermore,  the  prose  passage  introducing  the  Reginsmol 
connects  directly  with  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla,  and  only  the  inser¬ 
tion  of  the  Gripisspo  at  this  point,  which  may  well  have  been 
done  by  some  stupid  copyist,  breaks  the  continuity  of  the  story. 

For  convenience  I  have  here  followed  the  usual  plan  of 
dividing  this  material  into  distinct  parts,  or  poems,  but  I  greatly 
doubt  if  this  division  is  logically  sound.  The  compiler  seems, 
rather,  to  have  undertaken  to  set  down  the  story  of  Sigurth  in 
consecutive  form,  making  use  of  all  the  verse  with  which  he  was 
familiar,  and  which,  by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination,  could  be 
made  to  fit,  filling  up  the  gaps  with  prose  narrative  notes  based 
on  the  living  oral  tradition. 

This  view  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  not  one  of  the  three 
poems  in  question,  and  least  of  all  the  Reginsmol,  can  possibly 
be  regarded  as  a  unit.  For  one  thing,  each  of  them  includes  both 
types  of  stanza  commonly  used  in  the  Eddie  poems,  and  this, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Grundtvig  and  Mullenhoff  to 
prove  the  contrary,  is  almost  if  not  quite  conclusive  proof  that 
each  poem  consists  of  material  taken  from  more  than  one  source. 
Furthermore,  there  is  nowhere  continuity  within  the  verse  itself 
for  more  than  a  very  few  stanzas.  An  analysis  of  the  Reginsmol 
shows  that  stanzas  1-4,  6-10,  and  12,  all  in  Ljothahattr  stanza 
form,  seem  to  belong  together  as  fragments  of  a  poem  dealing  with 

[  356] 


Reginsmol 

Loki’s  (not  Andvari’s)  curse  on  the  gold  taken  by  the  gods  from 
Andvari  and  paid  to  Hreithmar,  together  with  Hreithmar’s  death 
at  the  hands  of  his  son,  Fafnir,  as  the  first  result  of  this  curse. 
Stanza  5,  in  Fornyrthislag,  is  a  curse  on  the  gold,  here  ascribed 
to  Andvari,  but  the  only  proper  name  in  the  stanza,  Gust,  is 
quite  unidentifiable,  and  the  stanza  may  originally  have  had  to 
do  with  a  totally  different  story.  Stanza  n,  likewise  in  Fornyrthis¬ 
lag,  is  merely  a  father’s  demand  that  his  daughter  rear  a  family 
to  avenge  his  death;  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  link  it  necessarily 
with  the  dying  Hreithmar.  Stanzas  13-18,  all  in  Fornyrthislag, 
give  Regin’s  welcome  to  Sigurth  (stanzas  13-14),  Sigurth’s  an¬ 
nouncement  that  he  will  avenge  his  father’s  death  on  the  sons  of 
Hunding  before  he  seeks  any  treasure  (stanza  15),  and  a  dia¬ 
logue  between  a  certain  FInikar,  who  is  really  Othin,  and  Regin, 
as  the  latter  and  Sigurth  are  on  the  point  of  being  shipwrecked. 
This  section  (stanzas  13-18)  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
Helgi  lays,  and  may  well  have  come  originally  from  that  cycle. 
Next  follows  a  passage  in  Ljothahattr  form  (stanzas  19-22  and 
24-25)  in  which  Hnikar-Othin  gives  some  general  advice  as  to 
lucky  omens  and  good  conduct  in  battle ;  the  entire  passage  might 
equally  well  stand  in  the  Hovamol,  and  I  suspect  that  it  origi¬ 
nally  came  from  just  such  a  collection  of  wise  saws.  Inserted  in 
this  passage  is  stanza  23,  in  Fornyrthislag,  likewise  on  the  con¬ 
duct  of  battle,  with  a  bit  of  tactical  advice  included.  The  “poem” 
ends  with  a  single  stanza,  in  Fornyrthislag,  simply  stating  that 
the  bloody  fight  is  over  and  that  Sigurth  fought  well — a  state¬ 
ment  equally  applicable  to  any  part  of  the  hero’s  career. 

Finnur  Jonsson  has  divided  the  Reginsmol  into  two  poems,  or 
rather  into  two  sets  of  fragments,  but  this,  as  the  foregoing  analy¬ 
sis  has  indicated,  does  not  appear  to  go  nearly  far  enough.  It 
accords  much  better  with  the  facts  to  assume  that  the  compiler 
of  the  collection  represented  by  the  Codex  Regius,  having  set  out 
to  tell  the  story  of  Sigurth,  took  his  verse  fragments  pretty  much 
wherever  he  happened  to  find  them.  In  this  connection,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  in  the  fluid  state  of  oral  tradition  poems, 
fragments,  and  stanzas  passed  readily  and  frequently  from  one 
story  to  another.  Tradition,  never  critical,  doubtless  connected 
with  the  Sigurth  story  much  verse  that  never  originated  there. 

If  the  entire  passage  beginning  with  the  prose  Fra  Dautha 
Sinfjotla,  and,  except  for  the  Gripisspo,  including  the  Reginsmol, 
Fafnismol,  and  Sigrdrifumol,  be  regarded  as  a  highly  uncritical 

[  357  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


piece  of  compilation,  rendered  consecutive  by  the  compiler’s 
prose  narrative,  its  difficulties  are  largely  smoothed  away;  any 
other  way  of  looking  at  it  results  in  utterly  inconclusive  attempts 
to  reconstruct  poems  some  of  which  quite  possibly  never  existed. 

The  twenty-six  stanzas  and  accompanying  prose  notes  in¬ 
cluded  under  the  heading  of  Reginsmol  belong  almost  wholly  to 
the  northern  part  of  the  Sigurth  legend;  the  mythological  fea¬ 
tures  have  no  counterpart  in  the  southern  stories,  and  only  here 
and  there  is  there  any  betrayal  of  the  tradition’s  Frankish  home. 
The  story  of  Andvari,  Loki,  and  Hreithmar  is  purely  Norse,  as 
is  the  concluding  section  containing  Othin’s  counsels.  If  we 
assume  that  the  passage  dealing  with  the  victory  over  Hunding’s 
sons  belongs  to  the  Helgi  cycle  (cf.  introductory  notes  to  Helga- 
kvitha  Hjorvarthssonar  and  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  /),  there 
is  very  little  left  to  reflect  the  Sigurth  tradition  proper. 

Regarding  the  general  development  of  the  story  of  Sigurth 
in  the  North,  see  the  introductory  note  to  the  Gripisspo. 


Sigurth  went  to  Hjalprek’s  stud  and  chose  for  himself 
a  horse,  who  thereafter  was  called  Grani.  At  that  time 
Regin,  the  son  of  Hreithmar,  was  come  to  Hjalprek’s 
home;  he  was  more  ingenious  than  all  other  men,  and  a 
dwarf  in  stature;  he  was  wise,  fierce  and  skilled  in  magic. 
Regin  undertook  Sigurth’s  bringing  up  and  teaching,  and 
loved  him  much.  He  told  Sigurth  of  his  forefathers, 
and  also  of  this:  that  once  Othin  and  Hönir  and  Loki  had 
come  to  Andvari’s  waterfall,  and  in  the  fall  were  many 
fish.  Andvari  was  a  dwarf,  who  had  dwelt  long  in  the 
waterfall  in  the  shape  of  a  pike,  and  there  he  got  his  food. 
“Otr  was  the  name  of  a  brother  of  ours,”  said  Regin, 
“who  often  went  into  the  fall  in  the  shape  of  an  otter;  he 
had  caught  a  salmon,  and  sat  on  the  high  bank  eating  it 
with  his  eyes  shut.  Loki  threw  a  stone  at  him  and  killed 
him ;  the  gods  thought  they  had  had  great  good  luck,  and 

[  358  ] 


Reginsmol 

stripped  the  skin  off  the  otter.  That  same  evening  they 
sought  a  night’s  lodging  at  Hreithmar’s  house,  and  showed 
their  booty.  Then  we  seized  them,  and  told  them,  as 
ransom  for  their  lives,  to  fill  the  otter  skin  with  gold,  and 
completely  cover  it  outside  as  well  with  red  gold.  Then 
they  sent  Loki  to  get  the  gold;  he  went  to  Ron  and  got 
her  net,  and  went  then  to  Andvari’s  fall  and  cast  the  net 
in  front  of  the  pike,  and  the  pike  leaped  into  the  net.” 
Then  Loki  said : 

i.  “What  is  the  fish  that  runs  in  the  flood, 

And  itself  from  ill  cannot  save? 

If  thy  head  thou  wouldst  from  hell  redeem, 

Find  me  the  water’s  flame.” 


Prose.  Hjalprek:  father  of  Alf,  Sigurth’s  step-father;  cf.  Fra 
Dautha  Sinfjotla,  and  note.  Gram:  cf.  Gripisspo,  5  and  note. 
Regin  (“Counsel-Giver”)  :  undoubtedly  he  goes  back  to  the  smith 
of  the  German  story;  in  the  Thithrekssaga  version  he  is  called 
Mimir,  while  Regin  is  there  the  name  of  the  dragon  (here 
Regin’s  brother,  Fafnir).  The  Voluspo  (stanza  12)  names  a 
Regin  among  the  dwarfs,  and  the  name  may  have  assisted  in 
making  Regin  a  dwarf  here.  Hr eithmar :  nothing  is  known  of  him 
outside  of  this  story.  Othin,  Hönir  and  Loki:  these  same  three 
gods  appear  in  company  in  Voluspo ,  17-18.  Andvari’s  fall: 
according  to  Snorri,  who  tells  this  entire  story  in  the  Skaldskap- 
armal,  Andvari’s  fall  was  in  the  world  of  the  dark  elves,  while 
the  one  where  Loki  killed  the  otter  was  not;  here,  however,  the 
two  are  considered  identical.  With  his  eyes  shut:  according  to 
Snorri,  Otr  ate  with  his  eyes  shut  because  be  was  so  greedy  that 
he  could  not  bear  to  see  the  food  before  him  diminishing.  Ron: 
wife  of  the  sea-god  Ægir,  who  draws  down  drowning  men  with 
her  net;  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar,  18  and  note.  Snorri 
says  that  Loki  caught  the  pike  with  his  hands. 

1.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  Water’s  flame:  gold,  so  called 
because  Ægir,  the  sea-god,  was  wont  to  light  his  hall  with  gold. 

[  359  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Andvari  spake: 

2.  “Andvari  am  I,  and  Oin  my  father, 

In  many  a  fall  have  I  fared ; 

An  evil  Norn  in  olden  days 
Doomed  me  in  waters  to  dwell.,, 

Loki  spake: 

3.  “Andvari,  say,  if  thou  seekest  still 

To  live  in  the  land  of  men, 

What  payment  is  set  for  the  sons  of  men 
Who  war  with  lying  words?” 

Andvari  spake: 

4.  “A  mighty  payment  the  men  must  make 

Who  in  Vathgelmir’s  waters  wade; 

On  a  long  road  lead  the  lying  words 
That  one  to  another  utters.” 

Loki  saw  all  the  gold  that  Andvari  had.  But  when 

2.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  The  name  of  the  speaker  is  not 
given  in  the  manuscripts.  Oin:  nothing  further  is  known  of 
Andvari’s  father.  Norn:  cf.  Voluspo,  20. 

3.  Stanzas  3-4  may  well  be  fragments  of  some  other  poem. 
Certainly  Loki’s  question  does  not  fit  the  situation,  and  the 
passage  looks  like  an  extract  from  some  such  poem  as  V afthruth- 
nismol.  In  Regius  the  phrase  “Loki  spake”  stands  in  the  middle 
of  line  1. 

4.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  V  athg  elmir 
(“Raging  to  Wade”)  :  a  river  not  elsewhere  mentioned,  but  cf. 
Voluspo,  39. 

Prose.  Snorri  says  Andvari’s  ring  had  the  power  to  create 
new  gold.  In  this  it  resembled  Baldr’s  ring,  Draupnir;  c.f. 
Skirnismol,  21  and  note. 


[  360  ] 


Reginsmol 

he  had  brought  forth  all  the  gold,  he  held  back  one  ring, 
and  Loki  took  this  from  him.  The  dwarf  went  into  his 
rocky  hole  and  said : 

5.  “Now  shall  the  gold  that  Gust  once  had 
Bring  their  death  to  brothers  twain, 

And  evil  be  for  heroes  eight ; 

Joy  of  my  wealth  shall  no  man  win.” 

The  gods  gave  Hreithmar  the  gold,  and  filled  up  the 
otter-skin,  and  stood  it  on  its  feet.  Then  the  gods  had  to 
heap  up  gold  and  hide  it.  And  when  that  was  done, 
Hreithmar  came  forward  and  saw  a  single  whisker,  and 
bade  them  cover  it.  Then  Othin  brought  out  the  ring 
Andvaranaut  and  covered  the  hair.  Then  Loki  said: 

6.  “The  gold  is  given,  and  great  the  price 

Thou  hast  my  head  to  save; 


5.  This  stanza  apparently  comes  from  a  different  source 
from  stanzas  1-4  (or  1-2  if  3-4  are  interpolated)  and  6-10;  cf. 
Introductory  Note.  In  the  V olsungasaga  Andvari  lays  his  curse 
particularly  on  the  ring.  Gust:  possibly  a  name  for  Andvari 
himself,  or  for  an  earlier  possessor  of  the  treasure.  Brothers 
twain:  Fafnir  and  Regin.  Heroes  eight:  the  word  “eight”  may 
easily  have  been  substituted  for  something  like  “all”  to  make 
the  stanza  fit  the  case;  the  “eight”  in  question  are  presumably 
Sigurth,  Gotthorm,  Gunnar,  Hogni,  Atli,  Erp,  Sorli  and  Hamther, 
all  of  whom  are  slain  in  the  course  of  the  story.  But  the  stanza 
may  originally  not  have  referred  to  Andvari’s  treasure  at  all. 

Prose.  Andvaranaut:  “Andvari’s  Gem.” 

6.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza,  introducing  it,  as  here,  with 
“Then  Loki  said”  in  the  prose.  Regius  omits  this  phrase,  but 
inserts  “said  Loki”  in  line  1. 


[361] 


Poetic  Edda 


But  fortune  thy  sons  shall  find  not  there, 

The  bane  of  ye  both  it  is.” 

Hreithmar  spake: 

7.  “Gifts  ye  gave,  but  ye  gave  not  kindly, 

Gave  not  with  hearts  that  were  whole ; 

Your  lives  ere  this  should  ye  all  have  lost, 

If  sooner  this  fate  I  had  seen.” 

Loki  spake: 

8.  “Worse  is  this  that  methinks  I  see, 

For  a  maid  shall  kinsmen  clash; 

Heroes  unborn  thereby  shall  be, 

I  deem,  to  hatred  doomed.” 

Hreithmar  spake: 

9.  “The  gold  so  red  shall  I  rule,  methinks, 

So  long  as  I  shall  live; 

Nought  of  fear  for  thy  threats  I  feel, 

So  get  ye  hence  to  your  homes.” 

Fafnir  and  Regin  asked  Hreithmar  for  a  share  of  the 
wealth  that  was  paid  for  the  slaying  of  their  brother,  Otr. 
This  he  refused,  and  Fafnir  thrust  his  sword  through  the 


8.  The  word  translated  “maid”  in  line  2  is  obscure,  and 
“gold”  may  be  meant.  Apparently,  however,  the  reference  is 
to  the  fight  between  Sigurth  and  the  sons  of  Gjuki  over  Brynhild. 
The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker,  and  many  editions 
assign  this  stanza  to  Hreithmar. 

9.  The  manuscript  includes  “said  Hreithmar”  (abbreviated) 
in  the  middle  of  line  1,  and  some  editors  have  followed  this. 

[  362  ] 


Reginsmol 

body  of  his  father,  Hreithmar,  while  he  was  sleeping. 
Hreithmar  called  to  his  daughters: 

io.  “Lyngheith  and  Lofnheith,  fled  is  my  life, 

And  mighty  now  is  my  need!” 

Lyngheith  spake: 

“Though  a  sister  loses  her  father,  seldom 
Revenge  on  her  brother  she  brings.” 

f 

Hreithmar  spake : 

n.  “A  daughter,  woman  with  wolf’s  heart,  bear, 

If  thou  hast  no  son  with  the  hero  brave; 

If  one  weds  the  maid,  for  the  need  is  mighty, 
Their  son  for  thy  hurt  may  vengeance  seek.” 

Then  Hreithmar  died,  and  Fafnir  took  all  the  gold. 
Thereupon  Regin  asked  to  have  his  inheritance  from  his 
father,  but  Fafnir  refused  this.  Then  Regin  asked  counsel 


10.  Hreithmar’s  daughters  do  not  appear  elsewhere.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  originally  stanza  io  was  followed  by  one 
in  which  Lofnheith  lamented  her  inability  to  avenge  her  father, 
as  she  was  married  and  had  no  son. 

11.  Apparently  an  interpolation  (cf.  Introductory  Note). 
Vigfusson  tries  to  reconstruct  lines  2  and  4  to  fit  the  Ljothahattr 
rhythm,  but  without  much  success.  Hreithmar  urges  his  daughter, 
as  she  has  no  sons,  to  bear  a  daughter  who,  in  turn,  will  have 
a  son  to  avenge  his  great-grandfather.  Grundtvig  worked  out 
an  ingenious  theory  to  fit  this  stanza,  making  Sigurth’s  grand¬ 
father,  Eylimi,  the  husband  of  Lyngheith’s  daughter,  but  there 
is  absolutely  no  evidence  to  support  this.  The  stanza  may  have 
nothing  to  do  with  Hreithmar. 

[  363  ] 


Poetic  Edda 

of  Lyngheith,  his  sister,  how  he  should  win  his  inherit¬ 
ance.  She  said: 

12.  “In  friendly  wise  the  wealth  shalt  thou  ask 
Of  thy  brother,  and  better  will ; 

Not  seemly  is  it  to  seek  with  the  sword 
Fafnir’s  treasure  to  take.” 


All  these  happenings  did  Regin  tell  to  Sigurth. 

One  day,  when  he  came  to  Regin’s  house,  he  was 
gladly  welcomed.  Regin  said : 


13.  “Hither  the  son  of  Sigmund  is  come, 

The  hero  eager,  here  to  our  hall; 

His  courage  is  more  than  an  ancient  man’s, 
And  battle  I  hope  from  the  hardy  wolf. 


14.  “Here  shall  I  foster  the  fearless  prince, 
Now  Yngvi’s  heir  to  us  is  come; 

The  noblest  hero  beneath  the  sun, 

The  threads  of  his  fate  all  lands  enfold.” 


13.  This  and  the  following  stanza  may  be  out  of  place  here, 
really  belonging,  together  with  their  introductory  prose  sentence, 
in  the  opening  prose  passage,  following  the  first  sentence  describ¬ 
ing  Regin.  Certainly  they  seem  to  relate  to  Regin’s  first  meeting 
with  Sigurth.  Stanzas  13-26,  interspersed  with  prose,  are  quoted 
in  the  N ornageststhattr.  Stanzas  13-18  may  be  the  remnants  of 
a  lost  poem  belonging  to  the  Helgi  cycle  (cf.  Introductory  Note). 
Hardy  wolf:  warrior,  i.  e.,  Sigurth. 

14.  Yngvi’s  heir:  Yngvi  was  one  of  the  sons  of  the  Danish 
king  Halfdan  the  Old,  and  traditionally  an  ancestor  of  Helgi 
(cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  1,  57  and  note).  Calling  Sigurth 

[  364  ] 


Reginsmol 

Sigurth  was  there  continually  with  Regin,  who  said 
to  Sigurth  that  Fafnir  lay  at  Gnitaheith,  and  was  in 
the  shape  of  a  dragon.  He  had  a  fear-helm,  of  which 
all  living  creatures  were  terrified.  Regin  made  Sigurth 
the  sword  which  was  called  Gram;  it  was  so  sharp  that 
when  he  thrust  it  down  into  the  Rhine,  and  let  a  strand 
of  wool  drift  against  it  with  the  stream,  it  cleft  the  strand 
asunder  as  if  it  were  water.  With  this  sword  Sigurth 
cleft  asunder  Regin’s  anvil.  After  that  Regin  egged 
Sigurth  on  to  slay  Fafnir,  but  he  said: 

15.  “Loud  will  the  sons  of  Hunding  laugh, 

Who  low  did  Eylimi  lay  in  death, 

If  the  hero  sooner  seeks  the  red 
Rings  to  find  than  his  father’s  vengeance.” 

King  Hjalprek  gave  Sigurth  a  fleet  for  the  avenging 


a  descendant  of  Yngvi  is,  of  course,  absurd,  and  the  use  of  this 
phrase  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  for  believing  that  stanzas 
13-18  belonged  originally  to  the  Helgi  cycle.  The  threads,  etc.: 
another  link  with  Helgi;  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  I,  3-4. 
As  Helgi  was  likewise  regarded  as  a  son  of  Sigmund,  stanzas 
13-14  would  fit  him  just  as  well  as  Sigurth. 

Prose.  Gnitaheith:  cf.  Gripisspo,  11  and  note.  Fear-helm:  the 
word  “ægis-hjalmr,”  which  occurs  both  here  and  in  Fafnismol, 
suggests  an  extraordinarily  interesting,  and  still  disputed,  ques¬ 
tion  of  etymology.  Gram:  according  to  the  V olsungasaga  Regin 
forged  this  sword  from  the  fragments  of  the  sword  given  by 
Othin  to  Sigmund  (cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  note). 

15.  Regarding  the  sons  of  Plunding  and  Eylimi,  father  of 
Sigurth’s  mother,  all  of  whom  belong  to  the  Helgi  tradition,  cf. 
Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  note. 

Prose.  The  fleet,  and  the  subsequent  storm,  are  also  reminis- 

[  365  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


of  his  father.  They  ran  into  a  great  storm,  and  were  off 
a  certain  headland.  A  man  stood  on  the  mountain,  and 
said : 

1 6.  “Who  yonder  rides  on  Rævil’s  steeds, 

O’er  towering  waves  and  waters  wild  ? 

The  sail-horses  all  with  sweat  are  dripping, 

Nor  can  the  sea-steeds  the  gale  withstand.” 

Re  gin  answered: 

17.  “On  the  sea-trees  here 
The  storm  wind  drives  us 
The  waves  crash  down 
And  the  roller-steeds  sink ; 

The  Man  spake: 

18.  “Hnikar  I  was  when  Volsung  once 
Gladdened  the  ravens  and  battle  gave; 

Call  me  the  Man  from  the  Mountain  now, 

Feng  or  Fjolnir;  with  you  will  I  fare.” 


are  Sigurth  and  I, 
on  to  our  death ; 
on  the  forward  deck, 
who  seeks  our  names  ?” 


cent  of  the  Helgi  cycle;  cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  1 ,  29-31, 
and  II,  prose  after  stanza  16.  A  man:  Othin. 

16.  Ravil’s  steeds  (Rævil  was  a  sea-king,  possibly  the 
grandson  of  Ragnar  Lothbrok  mentioned  in  the  Hervararsaga) , 
sail-horses  and  sea-steeds  all  mean  “ships.” 

17.  Sea-trees  and  roller-steeds  (the  latter  because  ships  were 
pulled  up  on  shore  by  means  of  rollers)  both  mean  “ships.” 

18.  The  V olsungasaga  quotes  this  stanza.  Hnikar  and 
Fjolnir:  Othin  gives  himself  both  these  names  in  Grimnismol, 
47;  Feng  (“The  Seizer”)  does  not  appear  elsewhere.  According 
to  the  V olsungasaga,  no  one  knew  Othin’s  name  when  he  came 
to  Volsung’s  house  and  left  the  sword  there  for  Sigmund. 

[  366] 


Reginsmol 

They  sailed  to  the  land,  and  the  man  went  on  board 
the  ship,  and  the  storm  subsided.  Sigurth  spake: 

19.  “Hnikar,  say,  for  thou  seest  the  fate 

That  to  gods  and  men  is  given; 

What  sign  is  fairest  for  him  who  fights, 

And  best  for  the  swinging  of  swords  ?” 

Hnikar  spake: 

20.  “Many  the  signs,  if  men  but  knew, 

That  are  good  for  the  swinging  of  swords; 

It  is  well,  methinks,  if  the  warrior  meets 
A  raven  black  on  his  road. 

21.  “Another  it  is  if  out  thou  art  come, 

And  art  ready  forth  to  fare, 

To  behold  on  the  path  before  thy  house 
Two  fighters  greedy  of  fame. 

22.  “Third  it  is  well  if  a  howling  wolf 

Thou  hearest  under  the  ash ; 

And  fortune  comes  if  thy  foe  thou  seest 
Ere  thee  the  hero  beholds. 

23.  “A  man  shall  fight  not  when  he  must  face 
The  moon’s  bright  sister  setting  late  ; 


19.  This  and  the  following  stanzas  are  strongly  suggestive 
of  the  Hovamol,  and  probably  came  originally  from  some  such 
collection. 

23.  This  stanza  is  clearly  an  interpolation,  drawn  in  by  the 

[  367] 


Poetic  Edda 


Win  he  shall  who  well  can  see, 

And  wedge-like  forms  his  men  for  the  fray. 

24.  “Foul  is  the  sign  if  thy  foot  shall  stumble 

As  thou  goest  forth  to  fight; 

Goddesses  baneful  at  both  thy  sides 
Will  that  wounds  thou  shalt  get. 

25.  “Combed  and  washed  shall  the  wise  man  go, 

And  a  meal  at  morn  shall  take; 

For  unknown  it  is  where  at  eve  he  may  be; 

It  is  ill  thy  luck  to  lose.” 

Sigurth  had  a  great  battle  with  Lyngvi,  the  son  of 


common-sense  advice,  as  distinct  from  omens,  given  in  the  last 
lines  of  stanza  22.  Moon’s  sister:  the  sun;  cf.  Vafthruthnismol, 
23  and  note.  IV edge-like :  the  wedge  formation  (prescribed  anew 
in  1920  for  the  United  States  Army  under  certain  circumstances) 
was  said  to  have  been  invented  by  Othin  himself,  and  taught  by 
him  only  to  the  most  favored  warriors. 

24.  Goddesses :  Norse  mythology  included  an  almost  limitless 
number  of  minor  deities,  the  female  ones,  both  kind  and  unkind, 
being  generally  classed  among  the  lesser  Norns. 

25.  This  stanza  almost  certainly  had  nothing  originally  to 
do  with  the  others  in  this  passage;  it  may  have  been  taken  from 
a  longer  version  of  the  Hovamol  itself. 

Prose.  Lyngvi:  the  son  of  Hunding  who  killed  Sigmund  in 
jealousy  of  his  marriage  with  Hjordis;  cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla 
and  note.  The  V olsnngasaga  names  one  brother  who  was  with 
Lyngvi  in  the  battle,  Hjorvarth,  and  Sigurth  kills  him  as  readily 
as  if  he  had  not  already  been  killed  long  before  by  Helgi.  But, 
as  has  been  seen,  it  was  nothing  for  a  man  to  be  killed  in  two  or 
three  different  ways. 


[  368  ] 


Reginsmol 

Hunding,  and  his  brothers ;  there  Lyngvi  fell,  and  his  two 
brothers  with  him.  After  the  battle  Regin  said: 

26.  “Now  the  bloody  eagle  with  biting  sword 
Is  carved  on  the  back  of  Sigmund’s  killer; 

Few  were  more  fierce  in  fight  than  his  son, 

Who  reddened  the  earth  and  gladdened  the 
ravens.” 

Sigurth  went  home  to  Hjalprek’s  house;  thereupon 
Regin  egged  him  on  to  fight  with  Fafnir. 


26.  Bloody  eagle,  etc.:  the  Nornageststhattr  describes  the  man¬ 
ner  in  which  the  captured  Lyngvi  was  put  to  death.  “Regin 
advised  that  they  should  carve  the  bloody  eagle  on  his  back.  So 
Regin  took  his  sword  and  cleft  Lyngvi’s  back  so  that  he  severed 
his  back  from  his  ribs,  and  then  drew  out  his  lungs.  So  died 
Lyngvi  with  great  courage.” 

Prose.  In  Regius  there  is  no  break  of  any  kind  between  this 
prose  passage  and  the  prose  introduction  to  the  Fafnismol  (cf. 
Introductory  Note). 


[369  ] 


FAFNISMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Fafnir 
Introductory  Note 

The  so-called  Fafnismol,  contained  in  full  in  the  Codex 
Regius,  where  it  immediately  follows  the  Reginsmol  without  any 
indication  of  a  break,  is  quoted  by  Snorri  in  the  Gylfaginning 
(stanza  13)  and  the  Skaldskaparmal  (stanzas  32  and  33),  and 
stanzas  6,  3,  and  4  appear  in  the  Sverrissaga.  Although  the 
V olsungasaga  does  not  actually  quote  any  of  the  stanzas,  it  gives 
a  very  close  prose  parallel  to  the  whole  poem  in  chapters  iS 
and  19. 

The  general  character  of  the  Fafnismol,  and  its  probable  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  Reginsmol  and  the  Sigrdrifumol,  have  been  discussed 
in  the  introductory  note  to  the  Reginsmol.  While  it  is  far  more 
nearly  a  unit  than  the  Reginsmol,  it  shows  many  of  the  same 
characteristics.  It  has  the  same  mixture  of  stanza  forms,  although 
in  this  case  only  nine  stanzas  (32-33,  35-36  and  40-44)  vary 
from  the  normal  Ljothahattr  measure.  It  shows,  though  to  a  much 
less  marked  extent,  the  same  tendency  to  introduce  passages  from 
extraneous  sources,  such  as  the  question-and-answer  passage  in 
stanzas  11-15.  At  the  same  time,  in  this  instance  it  is  quite  clear 
that  one  distinct  poem,  including  probably  stanzas  1-10,  16-23, 
25-31,  and  34-39,  underlay  the  compilation  which  we  here  have. 
This  may,  perhaps,  have  been  a  long  poem  (not,  however,  the 
“Long”  Sigurth  Lay;  see  introductory  note  to  Brot  af  Sigurth- 
arkvithu )  dealing  with  the  Regin-Fafnir-Sigurth-Brynhild  story, 
and  including,  besides  most  of  the  Fafnismol,  stanzas  1-4  and 
6-1 1  of  the  Reginsmol  and  part  of  the  so-called  Sigrdrifumol , 
together  with  much  that  has  been  lost.  The  original  poem  may, 
on  the  other  hand,  have  confined  itself  to  the  Fafnir  episode. 

In  any  case,  and  while  the  extant  Fafnismol  can  be  spoken 
of  as  a  distinct  poem  far  more  justly  than  the  Reginsmol,  there 
is  still  no  indication  that  the  compiler  regarded  it  as  a  poem  by 
itself.  His  prose  notes  run  on  without  a  break,  and  the  verses 
simply  cover  a  dramatic  episode  in  Sigurth’s  early  life.  The 
fact  that  the  work  of  compilation  has  been  done  more  intel¬ 
ligently  than  in  the  case  of  the  Reginsmol  seems  to  have  resulted 
chiefly  from  the  compiler’s  having  been  familiar  with  longer 
consecutive  verse  passages  dealing  with  the  Fafnir  episode. 

[  370  ] 


Fafnismol 


The  Reginsmol  is  little  more  than  a  clumsy  mosaic,  but  in  the 
Fafnismol  it  is  possible  to  distinguish  between  the  main  substance 
of  the  poem  and  the  interpolations. 

Here,  as  in  the  Reginsmol,  there  is  very  little  that  bespeaks 
the  German  origin  of  the  Sigurth  story.  Sigurth’s  winning  of 
the  treasure  is  in  itself  undoubtedly  a  part  of  the  earlier  southern 
legend,  but  the  manner  in  which  he  does  it  is  thoroughly  Norse. 
Moreover,  the  concluding  section,  which  points  toward  the  finding 
of  the  sleeping  Brynhild,  relates  entirely  to  the  northern  Valky¬ 
rie,  the  warrior-maiden  punished  by  Othin,  and  not  at  all  to 
the  southern  Brynhild  the  daughter  of  Buthli.  The  Fafnismol  is, 
however,  sharply  distinguished  from  the  Reginsmol  by  showing 
no  clear  traces  of  the  Helgi  tradition,  although  a  part  of  the 
bird  song  (stanzas  40-44,  in  Fornyrthislag  form,  as  distinct  from 
the  body  of  the  poem)  sounds  suspiciously  like  the  bird  passage 
in  the  beginning  of  the  Helgakvitha  Hjorvarthssonar.  Regarding 
the  general  relations  of  the  various  sets  of  traditions  in  shaping 
the  story  of  Sigurth,  see  the  introductory  note  to  Gripisspo. 

The  Fafnismol,  together  with  a  part  of  the  Sigrdrifumol,  has 
indirectly  become  the  best  known  of  all  the  Eddie  poems,  for 
the  reason  that  Wagner  used  it,  with  remarkably  little  change 
of  outline,  as  the  basis  for  his  “Siegfried.” 


Sigurth  and  Regin  went  up  to  the  Gnitaheith,  and 
found  there  the  track  that  Fafnir  made  when  he  crawled 
to  water.  Then  Sigurth  made  a  great  trench  across  the 
path,  and  took  his  place  therein.  When  Fafnir  crawled 
from  his  gold,  he  blew  out  venom,  and  it  ran  down  from 
above  on  Sigurth’s  head.  But  when  Fafnir  crawled  over 
the  trench,  then  Sigurth  thrust  his  sword  into  his  body 


Prose.  The  prose  follows  the  concluding  prose  passage  of  the 
Reginsmol  without  any  interruption;  the  heading  “Of  Fafnir’s 
Death”  is  written  in  the  manuscript  very  faintly  just  before 
stanza  1.  Gnitaheith:  cf.  Gripisspo,  11  and  note.  Fafnir:  Regin’s 
brother:  cf.  Reginsmol,  prose  after  stanza  14.  Venom:  in  the  Vol- 

[371] 


Poetic  Edda 


to  the  heart.  Fafnir  writhed  and  struck  out  with  his 
head  and  tail.  Sigurth  leaped  from  the  trench,  and  each 
looked  at  the  other.  Fafnir  said: 

1.  “Youth,  oh,  youth!  of  whom  then,  youth,  art 

thou  born  ? 

Say  whose  son  thou  art, 

Who  in  Fafnir’s  blood  thy  bright  blade  red¬ 
dened, 

And  struck  thy  sword  to  my  heart.” 

Sigurth  concealed  his  name  because  it  was  believed  in 
olden  times  that  the  word  of  a  dying  man  might  have 
great  power  if  he  cursed  his  foe  by  his  name.  He  said : 

2.  “The  Noble  Hart  my  name,  and  I  go 

A  motherless  man  abroad; 

Father  I  had  not,  as  others  have, 

And  lonely  ever  I  live.” 


sungasaga  it  was  the  blood,  and  not  the  venom,  that  poured  down 
on  Sigurth’s  head.  Sigurth  was  much  worried  about  this  danger, 
and  before  he  dug  the  trench  asked  Regin  what  would  happen 
if  the  dragon’s  blood  overcame  him.  Regin  thereupon  taunted 
him  with  cowardice  (Sigurth  refers  to  this  taunt  in  stanza  30, 
but  the  stanza  embodying  it  has  disappeared).  After  Sigurth 
had  dug  his  trench,  an  old  man  (Othin,  of  course)  appeared 
and  advised  him  to  dig  other  trenches  to  carry  off  the  blood, 
which  he  did,  thereby  escaping  harm. 

1.  The  first  line  in  the  original,  as  here,  is  unusually  long, 
but  dramatically  very  effective  on  that  account. 

3.  The  names  of  the  speakers  do  not  appear  in  the  manu¬ 
script,  though  they  seem  originally  to  have  been  indicated  in  the 

[  372] 


Fafnismoi 


Fafnir  spake: 

3.  “If  father  thou  hadst  not,  as  others  have, 

By  what  wonder  wast  thou  born? 

(Though  thy  name  on  the  day  of  my  death  thou 
hidest, 

Thou  knowest  now  thou  dost  lie.)” 

Sigurth  spake: 

4.  “My  race,  methinks,  is  unknown  to  thee, 

And  so  am  I  myself; 

Sigurth  my  name,  and  Sigmund’s  son, 

Who  smote  thee  thus  with  the  sword.” 

Fafnir  spake: 

5.  “Who  drove  thee  on?  why  wert  thou  driven 

My  life  to  make  me  lose? 

A  father  brave  had  the  bright-eyed  youth, 

For  bold  in  boyhood  thou  art.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

6.  “My  heart  did  drive  me,  my  hand  fulfilled, 

And  my  shining  sword  so  sharp  ; 

Few  are  keen  when  old  age  comes, 

Who  timid  in  boyhood  be.” 


margin  for  stanzas  3-30.  The  last  two  lines  of  stanza  3  are 
missing  in  the  manuscript,  with  no  gap  indicated,  but  the  Vol- 
sungasaga  prose  paraphrase  indicates  that  something  was  omitted, 
and  the  lines  here  given  are  conjecturally  reconstructed  from  this 
paraphrase. 

4.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza. 

5.  Line  4,  utterly  obscure  in  the  manuscript,  is  guesswork. 

[373  J 


Poetic  Edda 


Fafnir  spake: 

7.  “If  thou  mightest  grow  thy  friends  among, 

One  might  see  thee  fiercely  fight ; 

But  bound  thou  art,  and  in  battle  taken, 

And  to  fear  are  prisoners  prone.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

8.  “Thou  blamest  me,  Fafnir,  that  I  see  from  afar 

The  wealth  that  my  father’s  was ; 

Not  bound  am  I,  though  in  battle  taken, 

Thou  hast  found  that  free  I  live.” 

Fafnir  spake: 

9.  “In  all  I  say  dost  thou  hatred  see, 

Yet  truth  alone  do  I  tell; 

The  sounding  gold,  the  glow-red  wealth, 

And  the  rings  thy  bane  shall  be.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

10.  “Some  one  the  hoard  shall  ever  hold, 

Till  the  destined  day  shall  come; 

For  a  time  there  is  when  every  man 
Shall  journey  hence  to  hell.” 

Fafnir  spake : 

11.  “The  fate  of  the  Norns  before  the  headland 


7.  Fafnir  here  refers  to  the  fact  that  Hjordis,  mother  of  the 
still  unborn  Sigurth,  was  captured  by  Alf  after  Sigmund’s  death; 
cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla,  note. 

11.  Stanzas  11-15  are  probably  interpolated,  and  come  from 

[  3741 


Fafnismol 


Thou  findest,  and  doom  of  a  fool; 

In  the  water  shalt  drown  if  thou  row  ’gainst  the 
wind, 

All  danger  is  near  to  death.” 

Sigurth  spake : 

12.  “Tell  me  then,  Fafnir,  for  wise  thou  art  famed, 

And  much  thou  knowest  now: 

Who  are  the  Norns  who  are  helpful  in  need, 
And  the  babe  from  the  mother  bring?” 

Fafnir  spake : 

13.  “Of  many  births  the  Norns  must  be, 

Nor  one  in  race  they  were; 

Some  to  gods,  others  to  elves  are  kin, 

And  Dvalin’s  daughters  some.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

14.  “Tell  me  then,  Fafnir,  for  wise  thou  art  famed, 

And  much  thou  knowest  now: 


a  poem  similar  to  Vafthruthnismol.  The  headland:  Fafnir  is 
apparently  quoting  proverbs;  this  one  seems  to  mean  that  disaster 
(“the  fate  of  the  Norns”)  awaits  when  one  rounds  the  first 
headland  (i.  e.,  at  the  beginning  of  life’s  voyage,  in  youth).  The 
third  line  is  a  commentary  on  obstinate  rashness.  The  V ol- 
sungasaga  paraphrases  stanzas  11-15  throughout. 

12.  Norns:  cf.  stanza  13  and  note.  Sigurth  has  no  possible 
interest  in  knowing  what  Norns  are  helpful  in  childbirth,  but 
interpolations  were  seldom  logical. 

13.  Snorri  quotes  this  stanza.  There  were  minor  Norns,  or 
fates,  in  addition  to  the  three  great  Norns,  regarding  whom  cf. 
Foluspo ,  20.  Dvalin:  chief  of  the  dwarfs;  cf.  Foluspo,  14. 

[  375  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


How  call  they  the  isle  where  all  the  gods 
And  Surt  shall  sword-sweat  mingle?” 

Fafnir  spake: 

15.  “Oskopnir  is  it,  where  all  the  gods 

Shall  seek  the  play  of  swords; 

Bilrost  breaks  when  they  cross  the  bridge, 
And  the  steeds  shall  swim  in  the  flood. 

16.  “The  fear-helm  I  wore  to  af right  mankind, 

While  guarding  my  gold  I  lay; 

Mightier  seemed  I  than  any  man, 

For  a  fiercer  never  I  found.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

17.  “The  fear-helm  surely  no  man  shields 

When  he  faces  a  valiant  foe ; 

Oft  one  finds,  when  the  foe  he  meets, 

That  he  is  not  the  bravest  of  all.” 

Fafnir  spake : 

18.  “Venom  I  breathed  when  bright  I  lay 

By  the  hoard  my  father  had; 


14.  Surt:  ruler  of  the  fire  world;  the  reference  is  to  the  last 
great  battle.  Sword- sweat:  blood. 

15.  Oskopnir  (“Not-Made”)  :  apparently  another  name  for 
Vigrith,  which  is  named  in  Vafthruthnismol,  18,  as  the  final 
battle-ground.  Bilrost  (or  Bifrost)  :  the  rainbow  bridge  which 
breaks  beneath  Surt’s  followers;  cf.  Grimnismol,  29  and  note. 

16.  With  this  stanza  Fafnir  returns  to  the  situation.  Fear- 
helm:  regarding  the  “ægis-hjalmr”  cf.  Reginsmol,  prose  after 
stanza  14  and  note. 


[  376] 


Fafnismol 


(There  was  none  so  mighty  as  dared  to  meet  me, 
And  weapons  nor  wiles  I  feared.)’’ 

Sigurth  spake: 

19.  “Glittering  worm,  thy  hissing  was  great, 

And  hard  didst  show  thy  heart; 

But  hatred  more  have  the  sons  of  men 
For  him  who  owns  the  helm.” 

Fafnir  spake : 

20.  “I  counsel  thee,  Sigurth,  heed  my  speech, 

And  ride  thou  homeward  hence; 

The  sounding  gold,  the  glow-red  wealth, 

And  the  rings  thy  bane  shall  be.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

21.  “Thy  counsel  is  given,  but  go  I  shall 

To  the  gold  in  the  heather  hidden; 

And,  Fafnir,  thou  with  death  dost  fight, 

Lying  where  Hel  shall  have  thee.” 

Fafnir  spake : 

22.  “Regin  betrayed  me,  and  thee  will  betray, 

Us  both  to  death  will  he  bring; 


18.  Lines  3-4  do  not  appear  in  the  manuscript,  and  no  gap 
is  indicated;  they  are  here  conjecturally  paraphrased  from  the 
prose  passage  in  the  Volsungasaga. 

20.  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  stanza  is  spurious,  and 
that  stanza  21  ought  to  follow  stanza  22.  Lines  3-4,  abbreviated 
in  the  manuscript,  are  identical  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  9.  The 
Volsungasaga  paraphrase  in  place  of  these  two  lines  makes 

[  377  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


His  life,  methinks,  must  Fafnir  lose, 

For  the  mightier  man  wast  thou.” 

Regin  had  gone  to  a  distance  while  Sigurth  fought 
Fafnir,  and  came  back  while  Sigurth  was  wiping  the 
blood  from  his  sword.  Regin  said : 

23.  “Hail  to  thee,  Sigurth!  Thou  victory  hast, 

And  Fafnir  in  fight  hast  slain; 

Of  all  the  men  who  tread  the  earth, 

Most  fearless  art  thou,  methinks.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

24.  “Unknown  it  is,  when  all  are  together, 

(The  sons  of  the  glorious  gods,) 

Who  bravest  born  shall  seem; 

Some  are  valiant  who  redden  no  sword 
In  the  blood  of  a  foeman’s  breast.” 

Re  gin  spake: 

25.  “Glad  art  thou,  Sigurth,  of  battle  gained, 

As  Gram  with  grass  thou  cleansest ; 

My  brother  fierce  in  fight  hast  slain, 

And  somewhat  I  did  myself.” 


Fafnir  say:  “For  it  often  happens  that  he  who  gets  a  deadly 
wound  yet  avenges  himself.”  It  is  quite  likely  that  two  stanzas 
have  been  lost. 

22.  The  Volsungasaga  places  its  paraphrase  of  this  stanza 
between  those  of  stanzas  15  and  16. 

24.  Line  2  is  probably  spurious,  but  it  is  a  phrase  typical  of 
such  poems  as  Grimnismol  or  Vafthruthnismol. 

25.  Gram:  Sigurth’s  sword;  cf.  Reginsmol,  prose  after  14. 

[  378  ] 


Fafnismol 


Sigurth  spake: 

26.  “Afar  didst  thou  go  while  Fafnir  reddened 

With  his  blood  my  blade  so  keen ; 

With  the  might  of  the  dragon  my  strength  I 
matched, 

While  thou  in  the  heather  didst  hide.” 

Re  gin  spake : 

27.  “Longer  wouldst  thou  in  the  heather  have  let 

Yon  hoary  giant  hide, 

Had  the  weapon  availed  not  that  once  I  forged, 
The  keen-edged  blade  thou  didst  bear.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

28.  “Better  is  heart  than  a  mighty  blade 
For  him  who  shall  fiercely  fight; 

The  brave  man  well  shall  fight  and  win, 

Though  dull  his  blade  may  be. 

29.  “Brave  men  better  than  cowards  be, 

When  the  clash  of  battle  comes; 

And  better  the  glad  than  the  gloomy  man 
Shall  face  what  before  him  lies. 

30.  “Thy  rede  it  was  that  I  should  ride 


26.  In  the  manuscript  stanzas  26-29  stand  after  stanza  31, 
which  fails  to  make  clear  sense;  they  are  here  rearranged  in 
accordance  with  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase. 

28-29.  Almost  certainly  interpolated  from  some  such  poem  as 
the  Hovamol.  Even  the  faithful  V olsungasaga  fails  to  para¬ 
phrase  stanza  29. 


[  379  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Hither  o’er  mountains  high ; 

The  glittering  worm  would  have  wealth  and  life 
If  thou  hadst  not  mocked  at  my  might.” 

Then  Regin  went  up  to  Fafnir  and  cut  out  his  heart 
with  his  sword,  that  was  named  Rithil,  and  then  he  drank 
blood  from  the  wounds.  Regin  said : 

31.  “Sit  now,  Sigurth,  for  sleep  will  I, 

Hold  Fafnir’s  heart  to  the  fire; 

For  all  his  heart  shall  eaten  be, 

Since  deep  of  blood  I  have  drunk.” 

Sigurth  took  Fafnir’s  heart  and  cooked  it  on  a  spit. 
When  he  thought  that  it  was  fully  cooked,  and  the  blood 
foamed  out  of  the  heart,  then  he  tried  it  with  his  finger 
to  see  whether  it  was  fully  cooked.  He  burned  his  finger, 
and  put  it  in  his  mouth.  But  when  Fafnir’s  heart’s-blood 
came  on  his  tongue,  he  understood  the  speech  of  birds. 
He  heard  nut-hatches  chattering  in  the  thickets.  A  nut¬ 
hatch  said: 

32.  “There  sits  Sigurth,  sprinkled  with  blood, 

And  Fafnir’s  heart  with  fire  he  cooks; 


30.  Something  has  evidently  been  lost  before  this  stanza. 
Sigurth  clearly  refers  to  Regin’s  reproach  when  he  was  digging 
the  trench  (cf.  note  on  introductory  prose),  but  the  poem  does 
not  give  such  a  passage. 

Prose.  Rithil  (“Swift-Moving”)  :  Snorri  calls  the  sword  Refil 
(“Serpent”). 

32.  That  the  birds’  stanzas  come  from  more  than  one  source 

[  380] 


Fafnismol 


Wise  were  the  breaker  of  rings,  I  ween, 

To  eat  the  life-muscles  all  so  bright.” 

A  second  spake: 

33.  “There  Regin  lies,  and  plans  he  lays 
The  youth  to  betray  who  trusts  him  well ; 

Lying  words  with  wiles  will  he  speak, 

Till  his  brother  the  maker  of  mischief  avenges.” 

A  third  spake: 

34.  “Less  by  a  head  let  the  chatterer  hoary 

Go  from  here  to  hell; 

Then  all  of  the  wealth  he  alone  can  wield, 

The  gold  that  Fafnir  guarded.” 

A  fourth  spake: 

35.  “Wise  would  he  seem  if  so  he  would  heed 
The  counsel  good  we  sisters  give; 


is  fairly  apparent,  but  whether  from  two  or  from  three  or  more 
is  uncertain.  It  is  also  far  from  clear  how  many  birds  are 
speaking.  The  manuscript  numbers  II,  III,  and  IV  in  the  margin 
with  numerals;  the  V olsungasaga  makes  a  different  bird  speak 
each  time.  There  are  almost  as  many  guesses  as  there  are 
editions.  I  suspect  that  in  the  original  poem  there  was  one  bird, 
speaking  stanzas  34  and  37.  Stanza  38  is  little  more  than  a 
repetition  of  stanza  34,  and  may  well  have  been  a  later 
addition.  As  for  the  stanzas  in  Fornyrthislag  (32-33  and  35-36), 
they  apparently  come  from  another  poem,  in  which  several 
birds  speak  (cf.  “we  sisters”  in  stanza  35).  This  may  be  the 
same  poem  from  which  stanzas  40-44  were  taken,  as  well  as 
some  of  the  Fornyrthislag  stanzas  in  the  Sigrdrifumol. 

34.  Some  editions  turn  this  speech  from  the  third  person  into 
the  second,  but  the  manuscript  is  clear  enough. 

[381  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thought  he  would  give,  and  the  ravens  gladden, 
There  is  ever  a  wolf  where  his  ears  I  spy.” 

A  fifth  spake: 

36.  “Less  wise  must  be  the  tree  of  battle 
Than  to  me  would  seem  the  leader  of  men, 

If  forth  he  lets  one  brother  fare, 

When  he  of  the  other  the  slayer  is.” 

A  sixth  spake: 

37.  “Most  foolish  he  seems  if  he  shall  spare 

His  foe,  the  bane  of  the  folk; 

There  Regin  lies,  who  hath  wronged  him  so, 

Yet  falsehood  knows  he  not.” 

A  seventh  spake: 

38.  “Let  the  head  from  the  frost-cold  giant  be  hewed, 

And  let  him  of  rings  be  robbed ; 

Then  all  the  wealth  which  Fafnir’s  was 
Shall  belong  to  thee  alone.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

39.  “Not  so  rich  a  fate  shall  Regin  have 


35.  Wolf,  etc.:  the  phrase  is  nearly  equivalent  to  “there 
must  be  fire  where  there  is  smoke.”  The  proverb  appears  else¬ 
where  in  Old  Norse. 

36.  Tree  of  battle:  warrior. 

37.  Here,  as  in  stanza  34,  some  editions  turn  the  speech  from 
the  third  person  into  the  second. 

38.  Giant:  Regin  was  certainly  not  a  frost-giant,  and  the 
whole  stanza  looks  like  some  copyist’s  blundering  reproduction 
of  stanza  34. 


[  382  ] 


Fafnismol 


As  the  tale  of  my  death  to  tell; 

For  soon  the  brothers  both  shall  die, 

And  hence  to  hell  shall  go.” 

Sigurth  hewed  off  Regin’s  head,  and  then  he  ate  Faf- 
nir’s  heart,  and  drank  the  blood  of  both  Regin  and  Fafnir. 
Then  Sigurth  heard  what  the  nut-hatch  said : 


40.  ‘‘Rind,  Sigurth,  the  golden  rings  together, 
Not  kingly  is  it  aught  to  fear; 

I  know  a  maid,  there  is  none  so  fair, 

Rich  in  gold,  if  thou  mightest  get  her. 


41.  “Green  the  paths  that  to  Gjuki  lead, 


40.  Neither  the  manuscript  nor  any  of  the  editions  suggest 
the  existence  of  more  than  one  bird  in  stanzas  40-44.  It  seems 
to  me,  however,  that  there  are  not  only  two  birds,  but  two  distinct 
stories.  Stanzas  40-41  apply  solely  to  Guthrun,  and  suggest  that 
Sigurth  will  go  straight  to  Gunnar’s  hall.  Stanzas  42-44,  on  the 
other  hand,  apply  solely  to  Brynhild,  and  indicate  that  Sigurth 
will  find  her  before  he  visits  the  Gjukungs.  The  confusion  which 
existed  between  these  two  versions  of  the  story,  and  which 
involved  a  fundamental  difference  in  the  final  working  out  of 
Brynhild’s  revenge,  is  commented  on  in  the  note  on  Gripisspo, 
13.  In  the  present  passage  it  is  possible  that  two  birds  are 
speaking,  each  reflecting  one  version  of  the  story;  it  seems  even 
more  likely  that  one  speech  or  the  other  (40-41  or  42-44)  reflects 
the  original  form  of  the  narrative,  the  other  having  been  added, 
either  later  or  from  another  poem.  In  the  V olsungasaga  the 
whole  passage  is  condensed  into  a  few  words  by  one  bird: 
“Wiser  were  it  if  he  should  then  ride  up  on  Hindarfjoll,  where 
Brynhild  sleeps,  and  there  would  he  get  much  wisdom.”  The 
Guthrun-bird  does  not  appear  at  all. 

41.  Gjuki:  father  of  Gunnar  and  Guthrun:  cf.  Gripisspo,  13 
and  note. 


[  383  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  his  fate  the  way  to  the  wanderer  shows; 
The  doughty  king  a  daughter  has, 

That  thou  as  a  bride  mayst,  Sigurth,  buy.” 

Another  spake : 

42.  “A  hall  stands  high  on  Hindarfjoll, 

All  with  flame  is  it  ringed  without; 

Warriors  wise  did  make  it  once 
Out  of  the  flaming  light  of  the  flood. 

43.  “On  the  mountain  sleeps  a  battle-maid, 

And  about  her  plays  the  bane  of  the  wood ; 

Ygg  with  the  thorn  hath  smitten  her  thus, 

For  she  felled  the  fighter  he  fain  would  save. 

44.  “There  mayst  thou  behold  the  maiden  helmed, 
Who  forth  on  Vingskornir  rode  from  the  fight; 
The  victory-bringer  her  sleep  shall  break  not, 
Thou  heroes’  son,  so  the  Norns  have  set.” 


42.  Hindarfjoll :  “Mountain  of  the  Hind.”  Light  of  the  flood: 
gold;  cf.  Reginsmol,  1  and  note. 

43.  Battle-maid:  Brynhild,  here  clearly  defined  as  a  Valkyrie. 
Bane  of  the  wood:  fire.  Ygg:  Othin;  cf.  Grimnismol,  53.  The 
thorn:  a  prose  note  in  Sigrdrifumol  calls  it  “sleep-thorn.”  The 
fighter:  the  story  of  the  reason  for  Brynhild’s  punishment  is  told 
in  the  prose  following  stanza  4  of  Sigrdrifumol. 

44.  Vingskornir :  Brynhild’s  horse,  not  elsewhere  mentioned. 
Victory-bringer :  the  word  thus  translated  is  in  the  original 
“sigrdrifa.”  The  compiler  of  the  collection,  not  being  familiar 
with  this  word,  assumed  that  it  was  a  proper  name,  and  in  the 
prose  following  stanza  4  of  the  Sigrdrifumol  he  specifically 
states  that  this  was  the  Valkyrie’s  name.  Editors,  until  recently, 

[  384  ] 


Fafnismol 


Sigurth  rode  along  Fafnir’s  trail  to  his  lair,  and  found 
it  open.  The  gate-posts  were  of  iron,  and  the  gates;  of 
iron,  too,  were  all  the  beams  in  the  house,  which  was  dug 
down  into  the  earth.  There  Sigurth  found  a  mighty 
store  of  gold,  and  he  filled  two  chests  full  thereof;  he 
took  the  fear-helm  and  a  golden  mail-coat  and  the  sword 
Hrotti,  and  many  other  precious  things,  and  loaded  Grani 
with  them,  but  the  horse  would  not  go  forward  until 
Sigurth  mounted  on  his  back. 


have  followed  him  in  this  error,  failing  to  recognize  that 
“sigrdrifa”  was  simply  an  epithet  for  Brynhild.  It  is  from  this 
blunder  that  the  so-called  Sigrdrifumol  takes  its  name.  Bryn- 
hild’s  dual  personality  as  a  Valkyrie  and  as  the  daughter  of 
Buthli  has  made  plenty  of  trouble,  but  the  addition  of  a  second 
Valkyrie  in  the  person  of  the  supposed  “Sigrdrifa”  has  made 
still  more. 

Prose.  There  is  no  break  in  the  manuscript  between  the  end 
of  this  prose  passage  and  the  beginning  of  the  one  introducing 
the  Sigrdrifumol:  some  editors  include  the  entire  prose  passage 
with  one  poem  or  the  other.  Hrotti:  “Thruster.” 


[  385  ] 


SIGRDRIFUMOL 

The  Ballad  of  The  V ict or y-B ringer 

Introductory  Note 

The  so-called  Sigrdrifumol,  which  immediately  follows  the 
Fafnismol  in  the  Codex  Regius  without  any  indication  of  a  break, 
and  without  separate  title,  is  unquestionably  the  most  chaotic  of 
all  the  poems  in  the  Eddie  collection.  The  end  of  it  has  been 
entirely  lost,  for  the  fifth  folio  of  eight  sheets  is  missing  from 
Regius,  the  gap  coming  after  the  first  line  of  stanza  29  of  this 
poem.  That  stanza  has  been  completed,  and  eight  more  have 
been  added,  from  much  later  paper  manuscripts,  but  even  so  the 
conclusion  of  the  poem  is  in  obscurity. 

Properly  speaking,  however,  the  strange  conglomeration  of 
stanzas  which  the  compiler  of  the  collection  has  left  for  us,  and 
which,  in  much  the  same  general  form,  seems  to  have  lain 
before  the  authors  of  the  V olsungasaga,  in  which  eighteen  of 
its  stanzas  are  quoted,  is  not  a  poem  at  all.  Even  its  customary 
title  is  an  absurd  error.  The  mistake  made  by  the  annotator  in 
thinking  that  the  epithet  “sigrdrifa,”  rightly  applied  to  Brynhild 
as  a  “bringer  of  victory,”  was  a  proper  name  has  already  been 
explained  and  commented  on  (note  on  Fafnismol,  44).  Even  if 
the  collection  of  stanzas  were  in  any  real  sense  a  poem,  which 
it  emphatically  is  not,  it  is  certainly  not  the  “Ballad  of  Sigrdrifa” 
which  it  is  commonly  called.  “Ballad  of  Brynhild”  would  be 
a  sufficiently  suitable  title,  and  I  have  here  brought  the  estab¬ 
lished  name  “Sigrdrifumol”  into  accord  with  this  by  translating 
the  epithet  instead  of  treating  it  as  a  proper  name. 

Even  apart  from  the  title,  however,  the  Sigrdrifumol  has 
little  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  poem,  nor  is  there  any 
indication  that  the  compiler  did  so  regard  it.  Handicapped  as 
we  are  by  the  loss  of  the  concluding  section,  and  of  the  material 
which  followed  it  on  those  missing  pages,  we  can  yet  see  that 
the  process  which  began  with  the  prose  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla, 
and  which,  interrupted  by  the  insertion  of  the  Gripisspo ,  went  on 
through  the  Reginsmol  and  the  Fafnismol,  continued  through  as 
much  of  the  Sigrdrifumol  as  is  left  to  us.  In  other  words,  the 
compiler  told  the  story  of  Sigurth  in  mixed  prose  and  verse, 
using  whatever  verse  he  could  find  without  much  questioning  as 
to  its  origin,  and  filling  in  the  gaps  with  his  own  prose.  Fra 

[  386] 


Sigrdrifumol 

Dautha  Sinfjotla,  Reginsmol,  Fafnismol,  and  Sigrdrifumol  are 
essentially  a  coherent  unit,  but  one  of  the  compiler’s  making  only; 
they  represent  neither  one  poem  nor  three  distinct  poems,  and 
the  divisions  and  titles  which  have  been  almost  universally 
adopted  by  editors  are  both  arbitrary  and  misleading. 

The  Sigrdrifumol  section  as  we  now  have  it  is  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  piece  of  patchwork.  It  is  most  unlikely  that  the  com¬ 
piler  himself  brought  all  these  fragments  together  for  the  first 
time;  little  by  little,  through  a  process  of  accretion  and  also, 
unluckily,  through  one  of  elimination,  the  material  grew  into  its 
present  shape.  Certainly  the  basis  of  it  is  a  poem  dealing  with 
the  finding  of  Brynhild  by  Sigurth,  but  of  this  original  poem 
only  five  stanzas  (2-4  and  20-21)  can  be  identified  with  any 
degree  of  confidence.  To  these  five  stanzas  should  probably, 
however,  be  added  some,  if  not  all,  of  the  passage  (stanzas 
6-12)  in  which  Brynhild  teaches  Sigurth  the  magic  runes.  These 
stanzas  of  rune-lore  attracted  sundry  similar  passages  from 
other  sources,  including  stanza  5,  in  which  a  magic  draught 
is  administered  (not  necessarily  by  Brynhild  or  to  Sigurth), 
the  curious  rune-chant  in  stanzas  15-17,  and  stanzas  13-14  and 
18-19.  Beginning  with  stanza  22,  and  running  to  the  end  of  the 
fragment  (stanza  37),  is  a  set  of  numbered  counsels  closely 
resembling  the  Loddfafnismol  ( Hovamol ,  stanzas  111-138), 
which  manifestly  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  Brynhild. 
Even  in  this  passage  there  are  probably  interpolations  (stanzas 
25,  27>  3°»  34>  and  36).  Finally,  and  bespeaking  the  existence  at 
some  earlier  time  of  another  Sigurth-Brynhild  poem,  is  stanza 
1,  sharply  distinguished  by  its  metrical  form  from  stanzas  2-4 
and  20-21.  Many  critics  argue  that  stanzas  6-10  of  Helreith 
Brynildar  belonged  originally  to  the  same  poem  as  stanza  1  of 
the  Sigrdrifumol. 

The  Sigrdrifumol,  then,  must  be  regarded  simply  as  a  col¬ 
lection  of  fragments,  most  of  them  originally  having  no  relation 
to  the  main  subject.  All  of  the  story,  the  dialogue  and  the 
characterization  are  embodied  in  stanzas  1-4  and  20-21  and  in 
the  prose  notes  accompanying  the  first  four  stanzas;  all  of  the 
rest  might  equally  well  (or  better)  be  transferred  to  the 
Hovamol,  where  its  character  entitles  it  to  a  place.  Yet  stanzas 
2-4  are  as  fine  as  anything  in  Old  Norse  poetry,  and  it  is  out  of 
the  scanty  material  of  these  three  stanzas  that  Wagner  con¬ 
structed  much  of  the  third  act  of  “Siegfried.” 

[  387  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  Sigrdrifumol  represents  almost  exclusively  the  contribu¬ 
tions  of  the  North  to  the  Sigurth  tradition  (cf.  introductory  note 
to  the  Gripisspo) .  Brynhild,  here  disguised  by  the  annotator  as 
“Sigrdrifa,”  appears  simply  as  a  battle-maid  and  supernatural 
dispenser  of  wisdom;  there  is  no  trace  of  the  daughter  of  Buthli 
and  the  rival  of  Guthrun.  There  is,  however,  so  little  of  the 
“poem”  which  can  definitely  be  assigned  to  the  Sigurth  cycle 
that  it  is  impossible  to  trace  back  any  of  the  underlying  narrative 
substance. 

The  nature  and  condition  of  the  material  have  made  editorial 
conjectures  and  emendations  very  numerous,  and  as  most  of  the 
guesses  are  neither  conclusive  nor  particularly  important,  only 
a  few  of  them  are  mentioned  in  the  notes. 


Sigurth  rode  up  on  Hindarfjoll  and  turned  southward 
toward  the  land  of  the  Franks.  On  the  mountain  he 
saw  a  great  light,  as  if  fire  were  burning,  and  the  glow 
reached  up  to  heaven.  And  when  he  came  thither,  there 
stood  a  tower  of  shields,  and  above  it  was  a  banner. 
Sigurth  went  into  the  shield-tower,  and  saw  that  a  man 
lay  there  sleeping  with  all  his  war-weapons.  First  he 
took  the  helm  from  his  head,  and  then  he  saw  that  it 
was  a  woman.  The  mail-coat  was  as  fast  as  if  it  had 
grown  to  the  flesh.  Then  he  cut  the  mail-coat  from  the 


Prose .  The  introductory  prose  follows  without  break  the 
prose  concluding  the  Fafnismol,  the  point  of  division  being 
arbitrary  and  not  agreed  upon  by  all  editors.  Hindarfjoll:  cf. 
Fafnismol ,  42  and  note.  Franks:  this  does  not  necessarily  mean 
that  Sigurth  was  on  his  way  to  the  Gjukungs’  home,  for  Sigmund 
had  a  kingdom  in  the  land  of  the  Franks  (cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinf- 
jotla).  Shields:  the  annotator  probably  drew  the  notion  of  the 
shield-tower  from  the  reference  in  Helreith  Brynhildar,  9.  The 
flame-girt  tower  was  not  uncommon;  cf.  Mengloth’s  hall  in 
Svipdagsmol. 


[  388  ] 


Sigrdrifumol 

head-opening  downward,  and  out  to  both  the  arm-holes. 
Then  he  took  the  mail-coat  from  her,  and  she  awoke,  and 
sat  up  and  saw  Sigurth,  and  said: 

1.  “What  bit  through  the  byrnie?  how  was  broken 

my  sleep? 

Who  made  me  free  of  the  fetters  pale?” 

He  answered: 

“Sigmund’s  son,  with  Sigurth’s  sword, 

That  late  with  flesh  hath  fed  the  ravens.” 

Sigurth  sat  beside  her  and  asked  her  name.  She  took  a 
horn  full  of  mead  and  gave  him  a  memory-draught. 

2.  “Hail,  day!  Hail,  sons  of  day! 

And  night  and  her  daughter  now! 

Look  on  us  here  with  loving  eyes, 

That  waiting  we  victory  win. 


1.  This  stanza,  and  the  two  lines  included  in  the  prose  after 
stanza  4,  and  possibly  stanza  5  as  well,  evidently  come  from  a 
different  poem  from  stanzas  2-4.  Lines  3-4  in  the  original  are 
obscure,  though  the  general  meaning  is  clear. 

Prose  (after  stanza  1).  In  the  manuscript  stanza  4  stands 
before  this  prose  note  and  stanzas  2-3.  The  best  arrangement 
of  the  stanzas  seems  to  be  the  one  here  given,  following  Miillen- 
hoff’s  suggestion,  but  the  prose  note  is  out  of  place  anywhere. 
The  first  sentence  of  it  ought  to  follow  stanza  4  and  immediately 
precede  the  next  prose  note;  the  second  sentence  ought  to  precede 
stanza  5. 

2.  Sons  of  day:  the  spirits  of  light.  The  daughter  of  night 
(Not),  according  to  Snorri,  was  Jorth  (Earth). 

[  389  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


3.  “Hail  to  the  gods!  Ye  goddesses,  hail, 

And  all  the  generous  earth ! 

Give  to  us  wisdom  and  goodly  speech, 

And  healing  hands,  life-long. 

4.  “Long  did  I  sleep,  my  slumber  was  long, 

And  long  are  the  griefs  of  life  ; 

Othin  decreed  that  I  could  not  break 
The  heavy  spells  of  sleep.” 

Her  name  was  Sigrdrifa,  and  she  was  a  Valkyrie.  She 
said  that  two  kings  fought  in  battle ;  one  was  called 
Hjalmgunnar,  an  old  man  but  a  mighty  warrior,  and 
Othin  had  promised  him  the  victory,  and 

The  other  was  Agnar,  brother  of  Autha, 

None  he  found  who  fain  would  shield  him. 

Sigrdrifa  slew  Hjalmgunnar  in  the  battle,  and  Othin 
prickdd  her  with  the  sleep-thorn  in  punishment  for  this, 
and  said  that  she  should  never  thereafter  win  victory  in 
battle,  but  that  she  should  be  wedded.  “And  I  said  to 
him  that  I  had  made  a  vow  in  my  turn,  that  I  would 

Prose  (after  stanza  4).  Sigrdrifa:  on  the  error  whereby  this 
epithet,  “victory-bringer,”  became  a  proper  name  cf.  Fafnismol, 
44  and  note.  Hjalmgunnar:  in  Helreith  Brynhildar  (stanza  8) 
he  is  called  a  king  of  the  Goths,  which  means  little ;  of  him  and 
his  adversary,  Agnar,  we  know  nothing  beyond  what  is  told 
here.  The  two  lines  quoted  apparently  come  from  the  same  poem 
as  stanza  1 ;  the  two  first  lines  of  the  stanza  have  been  recon¬ 
structed  from  the  prose  thus:  “Hjalmgunnar  was  one,  the 
hoary  king,  /  And  triumph  to  him  had  Heerfather  prom¬ 
ised.”  A  few  editions  insert  in  this  prose  passage  stanzas 
7-10  of  Helreith  Brynhildar,  which  may  or  may  not  have  be¬ 
longed  originally  to  this  poem. 

[  390  ] 


Sigrdrifumol 

never  marry  a  man  who  knew  the  meaning  of  fear.” 
Sigurth  answered  and  asked  her  to  teach  him  wisdom,  if 
she  knew  of  what  took  place  in  all  the  worlds.  Sigrdrifa 
said: 

5.  “Beer  I  bring  thee,  tree  of  battle, 

Mingled  of  strength  and  mighty  fame; 

Charms  it  holds  and  healing  signs, 

Spells  full  good,  and  gladness-runes.” 

ill  ik  i!i  ik 

VJV  VJV  VJV  *Jy  /JÍ  «T» 

6.  Winning-runes  learn,  if  thou  longest  to  win, 

And  the  runes  on  thy  sword-hilt  write ; 

Some  on  the  furrow,  and  some  on  the  flat, 

And  twice  shalt  thou  call  on  Tyr. 

7.  Ale-runes  learn,  that  with  lies  the  wife 

Of  another  betray  not  thy  trust; 


5.  This  stanza  is  perhaps,  but  by  no  means  surely,  from  the 
same  poem  as  stanza  1.  Tree  of  battle:  warrior.  Runes:  the 
earliest  runes  were  not  letters,  but  simply  signs  supposed  to  pos¬ 
sess  magic  power;  out  of  them  developed  the  “runic  alphabet.” 

6.  Stanzas  6-12  give  a  list  of  runes  which  probably  had  no 
original  connection  with  the  Brynhild-Sigurth  story.  Tyr:  the 
sword-god  (cf.  Hymiskvitha,  4  and  note)  ;  “tyr”  is  also  the  name 
of  a  rune  which  became  “T.” 

7.  Regius  gives  only  lines  1-6;  lines  7-8  are  added  from  V ol- 
sungasaga.  Lies,  etc.:  a  guest  on  his  arrival  received  a  draught 
of  ale  from  the  hands  of  his  host’s  wife,  and  it  was  to  prevent 
this  draught  from  bewitching  him  that  the  runes  were  recom¬ 
mended.  Need:  the  word  “nauth,”  meaning  “need,”  is  also  the 
name  of  the  rune  which  became  “N.”  Leek:  leeks  were  long  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  the  power  of  counteracting  poison  or  witchcraft. 

[391] 


Poetic  Edda 


On  the  horn  thou  shalt  write,  and  the  backs  of  thy 
hands, 

And  Need  shalt  mark  on  thy  nails. 

Thou  shalt  bless  the  draught,  and  danger  escape, 
And  cast  a  leek  in  the  cup; 

(For  so  I  know  thou  never  shalt  see 
Thy  mead  with  evil  mixed.) 

8.  Birth-runes  learn,  if  help  thou  wilt  lend, 

The  babe  from  the  mother  to  bring; 

On  thy  palms  shalt  write  them,  and  round  thy 
joints, 

And  ask  the  fates  to  aid. 

9.  Wave-runes  learn,  if  well  thou  wouldst  shelter 

The  sail-steeds  out  on  the  sea; 

On  the  stem  shalt  thou  write,  and  the  steering- 
blade, 

And  burn  them  into  the  oars; 

Though  high  be  the  breakers,  and  black  the 
waves, 

Thou  shalt  safe  the  harbor  seek. 

10.  Branch-runes  learn,  if  a  healer  wouldst  be, 

And  cure  for  wounds  wouldst  work ; 


9.  Sail-steeds :  ships. 

10.  Branch-runes :  runes  cut  in  the  bark  of  trees.  Such  runes 
were  believed  to  transfer  sickness  from  the  invalid  to  the  tree. 
Some  editors,  however,  have  changed  “limrunar”  (“branch- 
runes”)  to  “lifrunar”  (“life-runes”). 

[  392  ] 


Sigrdrifumol 

On  the  bark  shalt  thou  write,  and  on  trees  that  be 
With  boughs  to  the  eastward  bent. 

11.  Speech-runes  learn,  that  none  may  seek 

To  answer  harm  with  hate; 

Well  he  winds  and  weaves  them  all, 

And  sets  them  side  by  side, 

At  the  judgment-place,  when  justice  there 
The  folk  shall  fairly  win. 

12.  Thought- runes  learn,  if  all  shall  think 

Thou  art  keenest  minded  of  men. 

Aj>  itj»  AÍA  AÍ*  Ak  aV 

7Jv  7Jv  <T*  T 

13.  Them  Hropt  arranged,  and  them  he  wrote, 

And  them  in  thought  he  made, 


11.  Lines  3-6  look  like  an  accidental  addition,  replacing  two 
lines  now  lost.  They  mean,  apparently,  that  the  man  who  inter¬ 
weaves  his  speech  with  “speech-runes”  when  he  pleads  his  case 
at  the  “Thing,”  or  popular  tribunal,  will  not  unduly  enrage  his 
adversary  in  the  argument  of  the  case. 

12.  Here  the  list  of  runes  breaks  off,  though  the  manuscript 
indicates  no  gap,  and  three  short  passages  of  a  different  type, 
though  all  dealing  with  runes,  follow. 

13.  Stanzas  13-14  appear  to  have  come  from  a  passage  re¬ 
garding  Othin’s  getting  of  the  runes  similar  to  Hovamol,  139-146. 
Editors  have  tried  various  combinations  of  the  lines  in  stanzas 
12-14.  Hropt:  Othin ;  cf.  Voluspo,  62.  The  draught,  etc.:  appar¬ 
ently  the  reference  is  to  the  head  of  Mim,  from  which  Othin  de¬ 
rived  his  wisdom  in  magic  (cf.  Voluspo,  47  and  note)  ;  Heith- 
draupnir  (“Light-Dropper”)  and  Hoddrofnir  (“Treasure- 
Opener”)  seem  to  be  names  for  Mim. 

[  393  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Out  of  the  draught  that  down  had  dropped 
From  the  head  of  Heithdraupnir, 

And  the  horn  of  Hoddrofnir. 

14.  On  the  mountain  he  stood  with  Brimir’s  sword, 

On  his  head  the  helm  he  bore; 

Then  first  the  head  of  Mim  spoke  forth, 

And  words  of  truth  it  told. 

*  *  &  &  %  * 

15.  He  bade  write  on  the  shield  before  the  shining 

goddess, 

On  Arvak’s  ear,  and  on  Alsvith’s  hoof, 

On  the  wheel  of  the  car  of  Hrungnir’s  killer, 
On  Sleipnir’s  teeth,  and  the  straps  of  the  sledge. 

16.  On  the  paws  of  the  bear,  and  on  Bragi’s  tongue, 


14.  This  stanza  is  clearly  in  bad  shape;  perhaps,  as  the  manu¬ 
script  indicates,  a  new  stanza,  of  which  most  has  been  lost, 
should  begin  with  line  3.  Brimir:  a  giant  (cf.  Voluspo,  9  and 
37)  ;  why  Othin  should  have  his  sword  is  unknown. 

15.  Stanzas  15-17  constitute  a  wholly  distinct  rune-chant. 
Line  1  is  unusually  long  in  the  original,  as  here.  Shield:  the 
shield  Svalin  (“Cooling”)  that  stands  in  front  of  the  sun;  cf. 
Grimnismol,  38.  Arvak  (“Early  Waker”)  and  Alsvith  (“All- 
Swift”)  :  the  horses  that  draw  the  sun’s  car;  cf.  Grimnismol,  37. 
Hrungnir:  the  slayer  of  the  giant  Hrungnir  was  Thor  (cf.  Har- 
barthsljoth,  14  and  note),  but  the  line  is  in  bad  shape;  the  name 
may  not  be  Hrungnir,  and  “killer”  is  a  conjectural  addition. 
Sleipnir:  Othin’s  eight-legged  horse;  cf.  'Grimnismol,  44  and 
note.  Sledge:  perhaps  the  one  mentioned  in  Grimnismol,  49. 

16.  Bragi:  the  god  of  poetry;  cf.  Grimnismol,  44  and  note. 

[394] 


Sigrdrifumol 

On  the  wolf’s  claws  bared,  and  the  eagle’s  beak, 
On  bloody  wings,  and  bridge’s  end, 

On  freeing  hands  and  helping  foot-prints. 


17.  On  glass  and  on  gold, 
In  wine  and  in  beer, 
On  Gungnir’s  point, 
On  the  nails  of  Norns, 

&  *  * 


and  on  goodly  charms, 
and  on  well-loved  seats, 
and  on  Grani’s  breast, 
and  the  night-owl’s  beak. 

&  * 


18.  Shaved  off  were  the  runes  that  of  old  were 
written, 

And  mixed  with  the  holy  mead, 

And  sent  on  ways  so  wide ; 

So  the  gods  had  them,  so  the  elves  got  them, 

And  some  for  the  Wanes  so  wise, 

And  some  for  mortal  men. 


19.  Beech-runes  are  there,  birth-runes  are  there, 
And  all  the  runes  of  ale, 


17.  Charms:  the  wearing  of  amulets  was  very  common. 
Gungnir:  Othin’s  spear,  made  by  the  dwarfs,  which  he  occasion¬ 
ally  lent  to  heroes  to  whom  he  granted  victory.  Grani:  Sigurth’s 
horse;  the  V olsungasaga  has  “giantesses’.” 

18.  Stanzas  18-19,  which  editors  have  freely  rearranged,  ap¬ 
parently  come  from  another  source  than  any  of  the  rest.  Shaved 
off:  the  runes  were  shaved  off  by  Othin  from  the  wood  on  which 
they  were  carved,  and  the  shavings  bearing  them  were  put  into 
the  magic  mead.  Wanes:  cf.  Voluspo,  21,  note. 

19.  Lines  3,  6,  and  7  look  like  spurious  additions,  but  the 
whole  stanza  is  chaotic.  Beech-runes :  runes  carved  on  beech- 
trees. 


[395] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  the  magic  runes  of  might; 

Who  knows  them  rightly  and  reads  them  true, 

H  as  them  himself  to  help ; 

Ever  they  aid, 

Till  the  gods  are  gone. 

*  ifc  %  ifc  # 

Brynhild  spake: 

20.  “Now  shalt  thou  choose,  for  the  choice  is  given, 

Thou  tree  of  the  biting  blade ; 

Speech  or  silence,  ’tis  thine  to  say, 

Our  evil  is  destined  all.” 

Sigurth  spake: 

21.  “I  shall  not  flee,  though  my  fate  be  near, 

I  was  born  not  a  coward  to  be ; 


20.  Stanzas  20-21  are  all  that  remains  of  the  dialogue  be¬ 
tween  Brynhild  and  Sigurth  from  the  poem  to  which  stanzas  2-4 
belong;  cf.  Introductory  Note.  In  the  intervening  lost  stanzas 
Brynhild  has  evidently  warned  Sigurth  of  the  perils  that  will 
follow  if  he  swears  loyalty  to  her ;  hence  the  choice  to  which  she 
here  refers.  Tree,  etc.:  warrior.  The  manuscript  does  not  indi¬ 
cate  the  speaker  of  either  this  or  the  following  stanza;  the  Vol- 
sungasaga  names  Sigurth  before  stanza  21. 

21.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  original  poem  concluded  with 
two  stanzas  after  this,  paraphrased  thus  in  the  V olsungasaga: 
“Sigurth  said:  ‘Nowhere  is  to  be  found  any  one  wiser  than  thou, 
and  this  I  swear,  that  I  shall  have  thee  for  mine,  and  that  thou 
art  after  my  heart’s  desire.’  She  answered:  ‘I  would  rather  have 
thee  though  I  might  choose  among  all  men.’  And  this  they  bound 
between  them  with  oaths.”  Stanzas  22-37,  which  the  V olsunga¬ 
saga  paraphrases,  may  have  been  introduced  at  a  relatively 
early  time,  but  can  hardly  have  formed  part  of  the  original  poem. 

[  396] 


Sigrdrifumol 

Thy  loving  word  for  mine  will  I  win, 

As  long  as  I  shall  live.” 

*  *  &  0  * 

22.  Then  first  I  rede  thee,  that  free  of  guilt 

Toward  kinsmen  ever  thou  art; 

No  vengeance  have,  though  they  work  thee  harm, 
Reward  after  death  thou  shalt  win. 

23.  Then  second  I  rede  thee,  to  swear  no  oath 

If  true  thou  knowest  it  not; 

Bitter  the  fate  of  the  breaker  of  troth, 

And  poor  is  the  wolf  of  his  word. 

24.  Then  third  I  rede  thee,  that  thou  at  the  Thing 

Shalt  fight  not  in  words  with  fools; 

For  the  man  unwise  a  worser  word 
Than  he  thinks  doth  utter  oft. 

25.  Ill  it  is  if  silent  thou  art, 

A  coward  born  men  call  thee, 

And  truth  mayhap  they  tell; 


22.  With  this  stanza  begins  the  list  of  numbered  counsels, 
closely  resembling  the  Loddfafnismol  ( Hovamol ,  111-138),  here 
attributed  to  Brynhild.  That  the  section  originally  had  anything 
to  do  with  Brynhild  is  more  than  improbable. 

23.  JV olf  of  his  word:  oath-destroyer,  oath-breaker. 

25.  This  chaotic  and  obscure  jumble  of  lines  has  been  unsuc¬ 
cessfully  “improved”  by  various  editors.  It  is  clearly  an  inter¬ 
polation,  meaning,  in  substance:  “It  is  dangerous  to  keep  silent 
too  long,  as  men  may  think  you  a  coward;  but  if  any  one  taunts 

[  397  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Seldom  safe  is  fame, 

Unless  wide  renown  be  won; 

On  the  day  thereafter  send  him  to  death, 

Let  him  pay  the  price  of  his  lies. 

26.  Then  fourth  I  rede  thee,  if  thou  shalt  find 

A  wily  witch  on  thy  road, 

It  is  better  to  go  than  her  guest  to  be, 

Though  night  enfold  thee  fast. 

27.  Eyes  that  see  need  the  sons  of  men 

Who  fight  in  battle  fierce; 

Oft  witches  evil  sit  by  the  way, 

Who  blade  and  courage  blunt. 

28.  Then  fifth  I  rede  thee,  though  maidens  fair 

Thou  seest  on  benches  sitting, 

Let  the  silver  of  kinship  not  rob  thee  of  sleep, 
And  the  kissing  of  women  beware. 

29.  Then  sixth  I  rede  thee,  if  men  shall  wrangle, 

And  ale-talk  rise  to  wrath, 

No  words  with  a  drunken  warrior  have, 

For  wine  steals  many  men’s  wits. 


you  falsely  because  of  your  silence,  do  not  argue  with  him,  but 
the  next  morning  kill  him  as  proof  that  he  is  a  liar.” 

27.  Probably  another  interpolation. 

28.  Silver  of  kinship:  the  passage  is  doubtful,  but  apparently 
it  means  the  “marriage-price”  for  which  a  bride  was  “bought.” 

29.  Line  1  comes  at  the  end  of  the  thirty-second  leaf  of  Regius, 
and  whatever  further  was  contained  in  that  manuscript  has  van- 

[  398  ] 


Sigrdrifumol 

30.  Brawls  and  ale  full  oft  have  been 

An  ill  to  many  a  man, 

Death  for  some,  and  sorrow  for  some; 

Full  many  the  woes  of  men. 

31.  Then  seventh  I  rede  thee,  if  battle  thou  seekest 

With  a  foe  that  is  full  of  might; 

It  is  better  to  fight  than  to  burn  alive 
In  the  hall  of  the  hero  rich. 

32.  Then  eighth  I  rede  thee,  that  evil  thou  shun, 

And  beware  of  lying  words; 

Take  not  a  maid,  nor  the  wife  of  a  man, 

Nor  lure  them  on  to  lust. 

33.  Then  ninth  I  rede  thee:  burial  render 

If  thou  findest  a  fallen  corpse, 

Of  sickness  dead,  or  dead  in  the  sea, 

Or  dead  of  weapons’  wounds. 

34.  A  bath  shalt  thou  give  them  who  corpses  be, 


ished  with  the  lost  eight-leaf  folio  (cf.  Introductory  Note).  The 
rest  of  stanza  29,  and  stanzas  30-37,  are  added  from  later  paper 
manuscripts,  which  were  undoubtedly  copied  from  an  old  parch¬ 
ment,  though  probably  not  from  the  complete  Regius.  The  V ol- 
sungasaga  paraphrases  these  additional  stanzas. 

30.  Probably  an  interpolation. 

31.  The  meaning  is  that  it  is  better  to  go  forth  to  battle  than 
to  stay  at  home  and  be  burned  to  death.  Many  a  Norse  warrior 
met  his  death  in  this  latter  way;  the  burning  of  the  house  in  the 
Njalssaga  is  the  most  famous  instance. 

34.  Probably  an  interpolation. 

[  399  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  hands  and  head  shalt  wash ; 

Wipe  them  and  comb,  ere  they  go  in  the  coffin, 
And  pray  that  they  sleep  in  peace. 

35.  Then  tenth  I  rede  thee,  that  never  thou  trust 

The  word  of  the  race  of  wolves, 

(If  his  brother  thou  broughtest  to  death, 

Or  his  father  thou  didst  fell;) 

Often  a  wolf  in  a  son  there  is, 

Though  gold  he  gladly  takes. 

36.  Battle  and  hate  and  harm,  methinks, 

Full  seldom  fall  asleep; 

Wits  and  weapons  the  warrior  needs 
If  boldest  of  men  he  would  be. 

37.  Then  eleventh  I  rede  thee,  that  wrath  thou  shun, 

And  treachery  false  with  thy  friends; 

Not  long  the  leader’s  life  shall  be, 

For  great  are  the  foes  he  faces. 


35.  Lines  3-4  are  probably  interpolated.  Race  of  wolves: 
family  of  a  slain  foe. 

36.  Probably  an  interpolation. 

37.  Lines  3-4  may  well  have  come  from  the  old  Sigurth- 
Brynhild  poem,  like  stanzas  2-4  and  20-21,  being  inserted  here, 
where  they  do  not  fit  particularly  well,  in  place  of  the  two  lines 
with  which  the  eleventh  counsel  originally  ended.  Perhaps  they 
formed  part  of  the  stanza  of  warning  which  evidently  preceded 
Brynhild’s  speech  in  stanza  20.  In  the  V olsungasaga  they  are 
paraphrased  at  the  end  of  Brynhild’s  long  speech  of  advice 
(stanzas  20-37),  and  are  immediately  followed  by  the  prose 
passage  given  in  the  note  on  stanza  21.  It  seems  likely,  therefore, 

[  400  ] 


Sigrdrifumol 

that  the  paper  manuscripts  have  preserved  all  of  the  so-called 
Sigrdrifumol  which  was  contained  in  the  lost  section  of  Regius, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  these  two  concluding  stanzas,  and 
these  may  very  well  have  been  given  only  in  the  form  of  a  prose 
note,  though  it  is  practically  certain  that  at  one  time  they  existed 
in  verse  form. 


[401] 


BROT  AF  SIGURTHARKVITHU 

Fragment  of  a  Sigurth  Lay 

Introductory  Note 

The  gap  of  eight  leaves  in  the  Codex  Regius  (cf.  introductory 
note  to  the  Sigrdrifumol)  is  followed  by  a  passage  of  twenty 
stanzas  which  is  evidently  the  end  of  a  longer  poem,  the  greater 
part  of  it  having  been  contained  in  the  lost  section  of  the  manu¬ 
script.  There  is  here  little  question  of  such  a  compilation  as 
made  up  the  so-called  Reginsmol,  Fafnismol,  and  Sigrdrifumol; 
the  extant  fragment  shows  every  sign  of  being  part  of  a  poem 
which,  as  it  stood  in  the  manuscript,  was  a  complete  and  definite 
unit.  The  end  is  clearly  marked;  the  following  poem,  Guthrunar- 
kwitha  I,  carries  a  specific  heading  in  the  manuscript,  so  that 
there  is  no  uncertainty  as  to  where  the  fragment  closes. 

It  seems  altogether  likely  that  the  twenty  stanzas  thus  remain¬ 
ing  are  the  end  of  a  poem  entitled  Sigurtharkvitha  (Lay  of 
Sigurth),  and,  more  specifically,  the  “Long”  Lay  of  Sigurth.  The 
extant  and  complete  Sigurth  lay,  a  relatively  late  work,  is  re¬ 
ferred  to  by  the  annotator  as  the  “Short”  Lay  of  Sigurth,  which, 
of  course,  presupposes  the  existence  of  a  longer  poem  with  the 
same  title.  As  the  “short”  lay  is  one  of  the  longest  poems  in  the 
whole  collection  (seventy  stanzas),  it  follows  that  the  other  one 
must  have  been  considerably  more  extensive  in  order  to  have 
been  thus  distinguished  by  its  length.  It  may  be  guessed,  then, 
that  not  less  than  eighty  or  a  hundred  stanzas,  and  possibly 
more,  of  the  “Long”  Lay  of  Sigurth  have  been  lost  with  the 
missing  pages  of  Regius. 

The  narrative,  from  the  point  at  which  the  so-called  Sigrdrif¬ 
umol  breaks  off  to  that  at  which  the  Brot  takes  it  up,  is  given 
with  considerable  detail  in  the  V olsungasaga.  In  this  prose  nar¬ 
rative  four  stanzas  are  quoted,  and  one  of  them  is  specifically 
introduced  with  the  phrase:  “as  is  told  in  the  Lay  of  Sigurth.”  It 
is  possible,  but  most  unlikely,  that  the  entire  passage  paraphrases 
this  poem  alone;  such  an  assumption  would  give  the  Lay  of 
Sigurth  not  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  stanzas  (allowing 
about  fifteen  stanzas  to  each  of  the  missing  pages),  and  more¬ 
over  there  are  inconsistencies  in  the  V olsungasaga  narrative  sug¬ 
gesting  that  different  and  more  or  less  conflicting  poems  were 
used  as  sources.  The  chances  are  that  the  “Long”  Lay  of  Sigurth 

[  402] 


Brot  af  Sigurtharkvithu 

filled  approximately  the  latter  half  of  the  lost  section  of  the 
manuscript,  the  first  half  including  poems  of  which  the  only 
trace  is  to  be  found  in  the  V olsungasaga  prose  paraphrase  and 
in  two  of  the  stanzas  therein  quoted. 

The  course  of  the  V olsungasaga’ s  story  from  the  Sigrdrifumol 
to  the  Brot  is,  briefly,  as  follows.  After  leaving  the  Valkyrie, 
Sigurth  comes  to  the  dwelling  of  Heimir,  Brynhild’s  brother-in- 
law,  where  he  meets  Brynhild  and  they  swear  oaths  of  fidelity 
anew  (the  V olsungasaga  is  no  more  lucid  with  regard  to  the 
Brynhild-Sigrdrifa  confusion  than  was  the  annotator  of  the 
poems).  Then  the  scene  shifts  to  the  home  of  the  Gjukungs. 
Guthrun,  Gjuki’s  daughter,  has  a  terrifying  dream,  and  visits 
Brynhild  to  have  it  explained,  which  the  latter  does  by  foretelling 
pretty  much  everything  that  is  going  to  happen;  this  episode  was 
presumably  the  subject  of  a  separate  poem  in  the  lost  section  of 
the  manuscript.  Guthrun  returns  home,  and  Sigurth  soon  arrives, 
to  be  made  enthusiastically  welcome.  Grimhild,  mother  of  Gun- 
nar  and  Guthrun,  gives  him  a  magic  draught  which  makes  him 
forget  all  about  Brynhild,  and  shortly  thereafter  he  marries 
Guthrun. 

Then  follows  the  episode  of  the  winning  of  Brynhild  for 
Gunnar  (cf.  Gripisspo,  37  and  note).  This  was  certainly  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  a  poem,  possibly  of  the  first  part  of  the  “Long”  Lay  of 
Sigurth,  although  it  seems  more  likely  that  the  episode  was  dealt 
with  in  a  separate  poem.  The  V olsungasaga  quotes  two  stanzas 
describing  Sigurth’s  triumphant  passing  through  the  flames  after 
Gunnar  has  failed  and  the  two  have  changed  forms.  They  run 
thus : 

The  fire  raged,  the  earth  was  rocked, 

The  flames  leaped  high  to  heaven  itself; 

Few  were  the  hardy  heroes  would  dare 
To  ride  or  leap  the  raging  flames. 

Sigurth  urged  Grani  then  with  his  sword, 

The  fire  slackened  before  the  hero, 

The  flames  sank  low  for  the  greedy  of  fame, 

The  armor  flashed  that  Regin  had  fashioned. 

After  Sigurth  has  spent  three  nights  with  Brynhild,  laying  his 
sword  between  them  (cf.  Gripisspo,  41  and  note),  he  and  Gunnar 
return  home,  while  Brynhild  goes  to  the  dwelling  of  her  brother- 
in-law,  Heimir,  and  makes  ready  for  her  marriage  with  Gunnar, 

[  403  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


directing  Heimir  to  care  for  her  daughter  by  Sigurth,  Aslaug. 
The  wedding  takes  place,  to  be  followed  soon  after  by  the  quar¬ 
rel  between  Guthrun  and  Brynhild,  in  which  the  former  betrays 
the  fact  that  it  was  Sigurth,  and  not  Gunnar,  who  rode  through 
the  flames.  Brynhild  speaks  with  contempt  of  Guthrun  and  her 
whole  family,  and  the  following  stanza,  which  presumably  be¬ 
longs  to  the  same  Sigurth  lay  as  the  Brot ,  is  quoted  at  this  point: 

Sigurth  the  dragon  slew,  and  that 

Will  men  recall  while  the  world  remains; 

But  little  boldness  thy  brother  had 
To  ride  or  leap  the  raging  flames. 

Gunnar  and  Sigurth  alike  try  to  appease  the  angry  Brynhild, 
but  in  vain.  After  Sigurth  has  talked  with  her,  his  leaving  her 
hall  is  described  in  the  following  stanza,  introduced  by  the  spe¬ 
cific  phrase:  “as  is  said  in  the  Lay  of  Sigurth”: 

Forth  went  Sigurth,  and  speech  he  sought  not, 

The  friend  of  heroes,  his  head  bowed  down ; 

Such  was  his  grief  that  asunder  burst 
His  mail-coat  all  of  iron  wrought. 

Brynhild  then  tells  Gunnar  that  she  had  given  herself  wholly 
to  Sigurth  before  she  had  become  Gunnar’s  wife  (the  confusion 
between  the  two  stories  is  commented  on  in  the  note  to  Gripisspo, 
47),  and  Gunnar  discusses  plans  of  vengance  with  his  brother, 
Hogni.  It  is  at  this  point  that  the  action  of  the  Brot  begins. 

Beginning  with  this  poem,  and  thence  to  the  end  of  the  cycle, 
the  German  features  of  the  narrative  predominate  (cf.  introduc¬ 
tory  note  to  Gripisspo) . 


Hogni  spake: 

1.  “(What  evil  deed 
That  the  hero’s  life 


has  Sigurth)  done, 
thou  fain  wouldst  have?” 


1.  The  fragment  begins  with  the  last  words  of  line  1  (prob¬ 
ably  line  3  of  the  stanza).  A  few  editors  ascribe  this  speech  to 
Gunnar  and  the  next  to  Brynhild;  one  reconstruction  of  lines  1-2 
on  this  probably  false  assumption  runs:  “Why  art  thou,  Bryn- 

[404] 


Brot  af  Sigurtharkvithu 


Gunnar  spake: 

2.  “Sigurth  oaths  to 
Oaths  hath  sworn, 
He  betrayed  me  there 
His  oaths,  methinks, 


me  hath  sworn, 
and  all  hath  broken; 
where  truest  all 
he  ought  to  have  kept.” 


Hogni  spake: 

3.  “Thy  heart  hath  Brynhild  whetted  to  hate, 
Evil  to  work  and  harm  to  win ; 

She  grudges  the  honor  that  Guthrun  has, 
And  that  joy  of  herself  thou  still  dost  have.” 


4.  They  cooked  a  wolf,  they  cut  up  a  snake, 

They  gave  to  Gotthorm  the  greedy  one’s  flesh, 
Before  the  men,  to  murder  minded, 

Laid  their  hands  on  the  hero  bold. 

5.  Slain  was  Sigurth  south  of  the  Rhine; 

From  a  limb  a  raven  called  full  loud: 


hild,  daughter  of  Buthli,  /  Scheming  ill  with  evil  counsel?” 
Hogni  (German  Hagene)  :  brother  of  Gunnar  and  Guthrun. 

2.  A  few  editors  ascribe  this  speech  to  Brynhild.  Gunnar,  if 
the  stanza  is  his,  has  believed  Brynhild’s  statement  regarding 
Sigurth’s  disloyalty  to  his  blood-brother. 

4.  The  V olsungasaga  quotes  a  somewhat  different  version  of 
this  stanza,  in  which  the  snake  is  called  “wood-fish”  and  the 
third  line  adds  “beer  and  many  things.”  Eating  snakes  and  the 
flesh  of  beasts  of  prey  was  commonly  supposed  to  induce  ferocity. 
Gotthorm:  Grimhild’s  son,  half-brother  to  Gunnar.  He  it  is  who, 

'  not  having  sworn  brotherhood  with  Sigurth,  does  the  killing. 

5.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  stands  between  stanzas  11 
and  12;  most  editions  have  made  the  change  here  indicated. 

[  405  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


“Your  blood  shall  redden  Atli’s  blade, 

And  your  oaths  shall  bind  you  both  in  chains.” 

6.  Without  stood  Guthrun,  Gjuki’s  daughter, 

Hear  now  the  speech  that  first  she  spake: 
“Where  is  Sigurth  now,  the  noble  king, 

That  my  kinsmen  riding  before  him  come?” 

7.  Only  this  did  Hogni  answer: 

“Sigurth  we  with  our  swords  have  slain; 

The  gray  horse  mourns  by  his  master  dead.” 

8.  Then  Brynhild  spake,  the  daughter  of  Buthli: 
“Well  shall  ye  joy  in  weapons  and  lands; 
Sigurth  alone  of  all  had  been  lord, 

If  a  little  longer  his  life  had  been. 

9.  “Right  were  it  not  that  so  he  should  rule 

O’er  Gjuki’s  wealth  and  the  race  of  the  Goths; 


South  of  the  Rhine:  the  definite  localization  of  the  action  shows 
how  clearly  all  this  part  of  the  story  was  recognized  in  the 
North  as  of  German  origin.  Atli  (Attila;  cf.  introductory  note  to 
Gripisspo )  :  the  Northern  version  of  the  story  makes  him  Bryn- 
hild’s  brother.  His  marriage  with  Guthrun,  and  his  slaying  of 
her  brothers,  are  told  in  the  Atli  poems.  Regarding  the  manner 
of  Sigurth’s  death  cf.  concluding  prose  passage  and  note.  Stanza 
13  indicates  that  after  stanza  5  a  stanza  containing  the  words  of 
an  eagle  has  been  lost. 

7.  One  line  of  this  stanza,  but  it  is  not  clear  which,  seems  to 
have  been  lost.  The  gray  horse:  Grani. 

8.  Some  editions  set  stanzas  8  and  9  after  stanza  11;  Sijmons 
marks  them  as  spurious.  Buthli:  cf.  Gripisspo,  19,  note. 

9.  Goths:  a  generic  term  for  any  German  race;  cf.  Gripisspo, 

[  406] 


Brot  af  Sigurtharkvithu 

Five  are  the  sons  for  ruling  the  folk, 

And  greedy  of  fight,  that  he  hath  fathered.” 


io.  Then  Brynhild  laughed —  and  the  building 

echoed — 

Only  once,  with  all  her  heart ; 

“Long  shall  ye  joy  in  lands  and  men, 

Now  ye  have  slain  the  hero  noble.” 


ii.  Then  Guthrun  spake, 
“Much  thou  speakest 
Accursed  be  Gunnar, 
Vengeance  shall  come 


the  daughter  of  Gjuki: 
in  evil  speech ; 

Sigurth’s  killer, 
for  his  cruel  heart.” 


12.  Early  came  evening,  and  ale  was  drunk, 

And  among  them  long  and  loud  they  talked ; 
They  slumbered  all  when  their  beds  they  sought, 
But  Gunnar  alone  was  long  awake. 


13.  H  is  feet  were  tossing,  he  talked  to  himself, 

And  the  slayer  of  hosts  began  to  heed 

What  the  twain  from  the  tree  had  told  him  then, 

The  raven  and  eagle,  as  home  they  rode. 


35  and  note.  Five  sons:  according  to  the  V olsungasaga  Sigurth 
had  only  one  son,  named  Sigmund,  who  was  killed  at  Brynhild’s 
behest.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma  and  Guthrunarkvitha  II  like¬ 
wise  mention  only  one  son.  The  daughter  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun, 
Svanhild,  marries  Jormunrek  (Ermanarich) . 

12.  The  manuscript  marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza,  and  a  few  editions  combine  it  with  stanza  13. 

13.  Slayer  of  hosts:  warrior  (Gunnar).  Raven  and  eagle:  cf. 
note  on  stanza  5. 


[  407] 


Poetic  Edda 


14.  Brynhild  awoke,  the  daughter  of  Buthli, 

The  warrior’s  daughter,  ere  dawn  of  day : 

“Love  me  or  hate  me,  the  harm  is  done, 

And  my  grief  cries  out,  or  else  I  die.” 

15.  Silent  were  all  who  heard  her  speak, 

And  nought  of  the  heart  of  the  queen  they  knew, 
Who  wept  such  tears  the  thing  to  tell 
That  laughing  once  of  the  men  she  had  won. 

Brynhild  spake: 

16.  “Gunnar,  I  dreamed  a  dream  full  grim: 

In  the  hall  were  corpses;  cold  was  my  bed; 

And,  ruler,  thou  didst  joyless  ride, 

With  fetters  bound  in  the  foemen’s  throng. 


Utterly  now  your  Niflung  race 

All  shall  die ;  your  oaths  ye  have  broken. 


1 6.  Mogk  regards  stanzas  16  and  17  as  interpolated,  but  on 
not  very  satisfactory  grounds.  On  the  death  of  Gunnar  cf.  Drap 
Niflunga. 

17.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  and  some  editions 
attach  these  two  lines  to  stanza  16.  Niftungs :  this  name  (German 
Nibelungen),  meaning  “sons  of  the  mist,”  seems  to  have  belonged 
originally  to  the  race  of  supernatural  beings  to  which  the  treas¬ 
ure  belonged  in  the  German  version.  It  was  subsequently  ex¬ 
tended  to  include  the  Gjukungs  and  their  Burgundians.  This 
question,  of  minor  importance  in  the  Norse  poems,  has  evoked 
an  enormous  amount  of  learned  discussion  in  connection  with 
the  Nibelungenlied. 


[  408  ] 


Brot  af  Sigurtharkvithu 

1 8.  “Thou  hast,  Gunnar,  the  deed  forgot, 

When  blood  in  your  footprints  both  ye  mingled; 

All  to  him  hast  repaid  with  ill 

Who  fain  had  made  thee  the  foremost  of  kings. 

19.  “Well  did  he  prove,  when  proud  he  rode 
To  win  me  then  thy  wife  to  be, 

How  true  the  host-slayer  ever  had  held 
The  oaths  he  had  made  with  the  monarch  young. 

20.  “The  wound-staff  then,  all  wound  with  gold, 
The  hero  let  between  us  lie; 

With  fire  the  edge  was  forged  full  keen, 

And  with  drops  of  venom  the  blade  was  damp.” 

Here  it  is  told  in  this  poem  about  the  death  of  Sigurth, 
and  the  story  goes  here  that  they  slew  him  out  of  doors, 
but  some  say  that  they  slew  him  in  the  house,  on  his  bed 


18.  Footprints:  the  actual  mingling  of  blood  in  one  another’s 
footprints  was  a  part  of  the  ceremony  of  swearing  blood-brother¬ 
hood,  the  oath  which  Gunnar  and  Sigurth  had  taken.  The  fourth 
line  refers  to  the  fact  that  Sigurth  had  won  many  battles  for 
Gunnar. 

20.  Regarding  the  sword  episode  cf.  Gripisspo,  41  and  note. 
W ound-staff :  sword. 

Prose.  This  prose  passage  has  in  the  manuscript,  written  in 
red,  the  phrase  “Of  Sigurth’s  Death”  as  a  heading;  there  is  no 
break  between  it  and  the  prose  introducing  Guthrunark'vitha  I, 
the  heading  for  that  poem  coming  just  before  stanza  1.  This 
note  is  of  special  interest  as  an  effort  at  real  criticism.  The  anno¬ 
tator,  troubled  by  the  two  versions  of  the  story  of  Sigurth’s  death, 
feels  it  incumbent  on  him  not  only  to  point  the  fact  out,  but  to 
cite  the  authority  of  “German  men”  for  the  form  which  appears 

[  409  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


while  he  was  sleeping.  But  German  men  say  that  they 
killed  him  out  of  doors  in  the  forest;  and  so  it  is  told  in 
the  old  Guthrun  lay,  that  Sigurth  and  Gjuki’s  sons  had 
ridden  to  the  council-place,  and  that  he  was  slain  there. 
But  in  this  they  are  all  agreed,  that  they  deceived  him  in 
his  trust  of  them,  and  fell  upon  him  when  he  was  lying 
down  and  unprepared. 


in  this  poem.  The  alternative  version,  wherein  Sigurth  is  slain 
in  bed,  appears  in  Sigurtharkvilha  e?i  skamma,  Guthrunarhvot, 
and  Hamthesmol,  and  also  in  the  V olsungasaga,  which  tells  how 
Gotthorm  tried  twice  to  kill  Sigurth  but  was  terrified  by  the 
brightness  of  his  eyes,  and  succeeded  only  after  the  hero  had 
fallen  asleep.  That  the  annotator  was  correct  in  citing  German 
authority  for  the  slaying  of  Sigurth  in  the  forest  is  shown  by  the 
Nibelungenlied  and  the  T hithrekssaga.  The  “old”  Guthrun  lay  is 
unquestionably  Guthrunarkvitha  //, 


[410] 


GUTHRUNARKVITHA  I 

The  First  Lay  of  Guthrun 

Introductory  Note 

The  First  Lay  of  Guthrun ,  entitled  in  the  Codex  Regius 
simply  Guthrunarkvitha,  immediately  follows  the  remaining 
fragment  of  the  “long”  Sigurth  lay  in  that  manuscript.  Unlike 
the  poems  dealing  with  the  earlier  part  of  the  Sigurth  cycle,  the 
so-called  Reginsmol,  Fafnismol,  and  Sigrdrifumol,  it  is  a  clear 
and  distinct  unit,  apparently  complete  and  with  few  and  minor 
interpolations.  It  is  also  one  of  the  finest  poems  in  the  entire 
collection,  with  an  extraordinary  emotional  intensity  and  dra¬ 
matic  force.  None  of  its  stanzas  are  quoted  elsewhere,  and  it  is 
altogether  probable  that  the  compilers  of  the  V olsungasaga  were 
unfamiliar  with  it,  for  they  do  not  mention  the  sister  and  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Gjuki  who  appear  in  this  poem,  or  Herborg,  “queen  of 
the  Huns”  (stanza  6). 

The  lament  of  Guthrun  (Kriemhild)  is  almost  certainly 
among  the  oldest  parts  of  the  story.  The  lament  was  one  of  the 
earliest  forms  of  poetry  to  develop  among  the  Germanic  peoples, 
and  I  suspect,  though  the  matter  is  not  susceptible  of  proof,  that 
the  lament  of  Sigurth’s  wife  had  assumed  lyric  form  as  early  as 
the  seventh  century,  and  reached  the  North  in  that  shape  rather 
than  in  prose  tradition  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  introductory 
note).  We  find  traces  of  it  in  the  seventeenth  Aventiure  of  the 
Nibelungenlied,  and  in  the  poems  of  the  Edda  it  dominates  every 
appearance  of  Guthrun.  The  two  first  Guthrun  lays  (I  and  II) 
are  both  laments,  one  for  Sigurth’s  death  and  the  other  including 
both  that  and  the  lament  over  the  slaying  of  her  brothers;  the 
lament  theme  is  apparent  in  the  third  Guthrun  lay  and  in  the 
Guthrunarh'vot. 

In  their  present  forms  the  second  Guthrun  lay  is  undoubtedly 
older  than  the  first;  in  the  prose  following  the  Rrot  the  annotator 
refers  to  the  “old”  Guthrun  lay  in  terms  which  can  apply  only  to 
the  second  one  in  the  collection.  The  shorter  and  “first”  lay, 
therefore,  can  scarcely  have  been  composed  much  before  the  year 
iooo,  and  may  be  somewhat  later.  The  poet  appears  to  have 
known  and  made  use  of  the  older  lament;  stanza  17,  for  example, 
is  a  close  parallel  to  stanza  2  of  the  earlier  poem;  but  whatever 
material  he  used  he  fitted  into  a  definite  poetic  scheme  of  his 

[411] 


Poetic  Edda 


own.  And  while  this  particular  poem  is,  as  critics  have  generally 
agreed,  one  of  the  latest  of  the  collection,  it  probably  represents 
one  of  the  earliest  parts  of  the  entire  Sigurth  cycle  to  take  on 
verse  form. 

Guthrunarkvitha  I,  so  far  as  the  narrative  underlying  it  is 
concerned,  shows  very  little  northern  addition  to  the  basic  Ger¬ 
man  tradition.  Brynhild  appears  only  as  Guthrun’s  enemy  and 
the  cause  of  Sigurth’s  death;  the  three  women  who  attempt  to 
comfort  Guthrun,  though  unknown  to  the  southern  stories,  seem 
to  have  been  rather  distinct  creations  of  the  poet’s  than  traditional 
additions  to  the  legend.  Regarding  the  relations  of  the  various 
elements  in  the  Sigurth  cycle,  cf.  introductory  note  to  Gripisspo. 


Guthrun  sat  by  the  dead  Sigurth ;  she  did  not  weep  as 
other  women,  but  her  heart  was  near  to  bursting  with 
grief.  The  men  and  women  came  to  her  to  console  her, 
but  that  was  not  easy  to  do.  It  is  told  of  men  that 
Guthrun  had  eaten  of  Fafnir’s  heart,  and  that  she  under¬ 
stood  the  speech  of  birds.  This  is  a  poem  about  Guthrun. 

i.  Then  did  Guthrun  think  to  die, 

When  she  by  Sigurth  sorrowing  sat; 

Tears  she  had  not,  nor  wrung  her  hands, 

Nor  ever  wailed,  as  other  women. 


Prose .  The  prose  follows  the  concluding  prose  of  the  Brot 
without  indication  of  a  break,  the  heading  standing  immediately 
before  stanza  i.  Fafnir’s  heart:  this  bit  of  information  is  here 
quite  without  point,  and  it  is  nowhere  else  stated  that  Guthrun 
understood  the  speech  of  birds.  In  the  Volsungasaga  it  is  stated 
that  Sigurth  gave  Guthrun  some  of  Fafnir’s  heart  to  eat,  “and 
thereafter  she  was  much  grimmer  than  before,  and  wiser.” 

i.  This  stanza  seems  to  be  based  on  Guthrunarkvitha  II, 
11-12. 


[412] 


Guthrunarkvitha  I 


2. 


To  her  the  warriors 
Longing  her  heavy 
Grieving  could  not 
So  sad  her  heart, 


wise  there  came, 
woe  to  lighten ; 
Guthrun  weep, 
it  seemed,  would  break. 


3.  Then  the  wives 
Gold-adorned, 
Each  one  then 
The  bitterest  pain 


of  the  warriors  came, 
and  Guthrun  sought; 
of  her  own  grief  spoke, 
she  had  ever  borne. 


4.  Then  spake  Gjaflaug,  Gjuki’s  sister: 

“Most  joyless  of  all  on  earth  am  I; 

Husbands  five  were  from  me  taken, 

(Two  daughters  then,  and  sisters  three,) 
Brothers  eight,  yet  I  have  lived.” 

5.  Grieving  could  not  Guthrun  weep, 

Such  grief  she  had  for  her  husband  dead, 
And  so  grim  her  heart  by  the  hero’s  body. 

6.  Then  Herborg  spake,  the  queen  of  the  Huns : 


4.  Gjaflaug:  nothing  further  is  known  of  this  aunt  of  Guth¬ 
run,  or  of  the  many  relatives  whom  she  has  lost.  Very  likely  she 
is  an  invention  of  the  poet’s,  for  it  seems  improbable  that  other¬ 
wise  all  further  trace  of  her  should  have  been  lost.  Line  4  has 
been  marked  by  many  editors  as  spurious. 

5.  Some  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line,  after  either  line  1 
or  line  3.  I  prefer  to  believe  that  here  and  in  stanza  10  the  poet 
knew  exactly  what  he  was  doing,  and  that  both  stanzas  are 
correct. 

6.  Herborg:  neither  she  nor  her  sorrows  are  elsewhere  men- 

[413] 


Poetic  Edda 


“I  have  a  greater  grief  to  tell; 

My  seven  sons  in  the  southern  land, 

And  my  husband,  fell  in  fight  all  eight. 

(Father  and  mother  and  brothers  four 
Amid  the  waves  the  wind  once  smote, 

And  the  seas  crashed  through  the  sides  of  the 
ship.) 

7.  “The  bodies  all  with  my  own  hands  then 

I  decked  for  the  grave,  and  the  dead  I  buried ; 

A  half-year  brought  me  this  to  bear; 

And  no  one  came  to  comfort  me. 

8.  “Then  bound  I  was,  and  taken  in  war, 

A  sorrow  yet  in  the  same  half-year; 

They  bade  me  deck  and  bind  the  shoes 
Of  the  wife  of  the  monarch  every  morn. 

9.  “In  jealous  rage  her  wrath  she  spake, 

And  beat  me  oft  with  heavy  blows; 


tioned,  nor  is  it  clear  what  a  “queen  of  the  Huns”  is  doing  in 
Gunnar’s  home,  but  the  word  “Hun”  has  little  definiteness  of 
meaning  in  the  poems,  and  is  frequently  applied  to  Sigurth  him¬ 
self  (cf.  note  on  stanza  24).  Herborg  appears  from  stanza  11  to 
have  been  the  foster-mother  of  Gollrond,  Guthrun’s  sister.  Lines 
5-7  may  be  interpolations,  or  may  form  a  separate  stanza. 

7.  Lines  1  and  2  stand  in  reversed  order  in  the  manuscript;  I 
have  followed  Gering’s  conjectural  transposition. 

9.  Herborg  implies  that  the  queen’s  jealousy  was  not  alto¬ 
gether  misplaced. 


[414] 


Guthrunarkvitha  I 


Never  a  better  lord  I  knew, 

And  never  a  woman  worse  I  found.” 


io.  Grieving  could  not  Guthrun  weep, 

Such  grief  she  had  for  her  husband  dead, 


And  so  grim  her  heart 

11.  Then  spake  Gollrond, 
“Thy  wisdom  finds  not, 
The  way  to  comfort 
She  bade  them  uncover 

12.  The  shroud  she  lifted 
H  is  well-loved  head 
“Look  on  thy  loved  one 
To  his  as  if  yet  the 


by  the  hero’s  body. 

Gjuki’s  daughter: 
my  foster-mother, 
the  wife  so  young.” 
the  warrior’s  corpse. 

from  Sigurth,  laying 
on  the  knees  of  his  wife : 

and  lay  thy  lips 
hero  lived.” 


13.  Once  alone  did 
H  is  hair  all  clotted 
The  blinded  eyes 
The  hero’s  breast 

14.  Then  Guthrun  bent, 


Guthrun  look; 

with  blood  beheld, 
that  once  shone  bright, 
that  the  blade  had  pierced. 

on  her  pillow  bowed, 


10.  Cf.  stanza  5  and  note.  The  manuscript  abbreviates  to 
first  letters. 

11.  Gollrond:  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  Line  4  looks  like  an 
interpolation  replacing  a  line  previously  lost. 

12.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
s.anza,  and  some  editors  have  attempted  to  follow  this  arrange¬ 
ment. 

14.  Many  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line  from  this  stanza. 

[415] 


Poetic  Edda 


Her  hair  was  loosened,  her  cheek  was  hot, 
And  the  tears  like  raindrops  downward  ran. 

15.  Then  Guthrun,  daughter  of  Gjuki,  wept, 

And  through  her  tresses  flowed  the  tears; 

And  from  the  court  came  the  cry  of  geese, 

The  birds  so  fair  of  the  hero’s  bride. 

16.  Then  Gollrond  spake,  the  daughter  of  Gjuki: 
“Never  a  greater  love  I  knew 

Than  yours  among  all  men  on  earth ; 

Nowhere  wast  happy,  at  home  or  abroad, 
Sister  mine,  with  Sigurth  away.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

17.  “So  was  my  Sigurth  o’er  Gjuki’s  sons 
As  the  spear-leek  grown  above  the  grass, 

Or  the  jewel  bright  borne  on  the  band, 

The  precious  stone  that  princes  wear. 

18.  “To  the  leader  of  men  I  loftier  seemed 
And  higher  than  all  of  Herjan’s  maids; 


15.  The  word  here  translated  “tresses”  is  sheer  guesswork. 
The  detail  of  the  geese  is  taken  from  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma, 
29,  line  3  here  being  identical  with  line  4  of  that  stanza. 

16.  Line  1,  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript,  very  likely 
should  be  simply  “Gollrond  spake.” 

17.  Cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  11,  2.  The  manuscript  does  not  name 
the  speaker,  and  some  editions  have  a  first  line,  “Then  Guthrun 
spake,  the  daughter  of  Gjuki.” 

18.  Herjan:  Othin;  his  maids  are  the  Valkyries;  cf.  Voluspo, 
31,  where  the  same  phrase  is  used. 

[416] 


Guthrunarkvitha  I 


As  little  now  as  the  leaf  I  am 

On  the  willow  hanging;  my  hero  is  dead. 

19.  “In  his  seat,  in  his  bed,  I  see  no  more 

My  heart’s  true  friend ;  the  fault  is  theirs, 

The  sons  of  Gjuki,  for  all  my  grief, 

That  so  their  sister  sorely  weeps. 

20.  “So  shall  your  land  its  people  lose 

As  ye  have  kept  your  oaths  of  yore ; 

Gunnar,  no  joy  the  gold  shall  give  thee, 

(The  rings  shall  soon  thy  slayers  be,) 

Who  swarest  oaths  with  Sigurth  once. 

21.  “In  the  court  was  greater  gladness  then 
The  day  my  Sigurth  Grani  saddled, 

And  went  forth  Brynhild’s  hand  to  win, 

That  woman  ill,  in  an  evil  hour.” 

22.  Then  Brynhild  spake,  the  daughter  of  Buthli: 
“May  the  witch  now  husband  and  children  want 
Who,  Guthrun,  loosed  thy  tears  at  last, 

And  with  magic  today  hath  made  thee  speak.” 


20.  Line  4  looks  like  an  interpolation  (cf.  Fafnismol,  9,  line 
4),  but  some  editors  instead  have  queried  line  5.  How  Guthrun’s 
curse  is  fulfilled  is  told  in  the  subsequent  poems.  That  desire  for 
Sigurth’s  treasure  (the  gold  cursed  by  Andvari  and  Loki)  was 
one  of  the  motives  for  his  murder  is  indicated  in  Sigurtharkwitha 
en  skamma  (stanza  16),  and  was  clearly  a  part  of  the  German 
tradition,  as  it  appears  in  the  Nib elung enlied. 

21.  Cf.  Gripisspo,  35  and  note. 

22.  Line  1  is  abbreviated  in  the  manuscript. 

[417] 


Poetic  Edda 


23.  Then  Gollrond,  daughter  of  Gjuki,  spake: 
“Speak  not  such  words,  thou  hated  woman; 
Bane  of  the  noble  thou  e’er  hast  been, 

(Borne  thou  art  on  an  evil  wave, 

Sorrow  hast  brought  to  seven  kings,) 

And  many  a  woman  hast  loveless  made.” 

24.  Then  Brynhild,  daughter  of  Buthli,  spake: 
“Atli  is  guilty  of  all  the  sorrow, 

(Son  of  Buthli  and  brother  of  mine,) 

When  we  saw  in  the  hall  of  the  Hunnish  race 
The  flame  of  the  snake’s  bed  flash  round  the 
hero ; 

(For  the  journey  since  full  sore  have  I  paid, 
And  ever  I  seek  the  sight  to  forget.)” 

23.  Editors  are  agreed  that  this  stanza  shows  interpolations, 
but  differ  as  to  the  lines  to  reject.  Line  4  (literally  “every  wave 
of  ill-doing  drives  thee”)  is  substantially  a  proverb,  and  line  5, 
with  its  apparently  meaningless  reference  to  “seven”  kings,  may 
easily  have  come  from  some  other  source. 

24.  The  stanza  is  obviously  in  bad  shape;  perhaps  it  repre¬ 
sents  two  separate  stanzas,  or  perhaps  three  of  the  lines  are  later 
additions.  Atli:  Brynhild  here  blames  her  brother,  following 
the  frequent  custom  of  transferring  the  responsibility  for  a 
murder  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II,  33 ),  because  he  com¬ 
pelled  her  to  marry  Gunnar  against  her  will,  an  idea  which  the 
poet  seems  to  have  gained  from  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma, 
32-39.  These  stanzas  represent  an  entirely  different  version  of 
the  story,  wherein  Atli,  attacked  by  Gunnar  and  Sigurth,  buys 
them  off  by  giving  Gunnar  his  sister,  Brynhild,  as  wife.  He 
seems  to  have  induced  the  latter  to  marry  Gunnar  by  falsely 
telling  her  that  Gunnar  was  Sigurth  (a  rationalistic  explanation 
of  the  interchange  of  forms  described  in  the  Volsungasaga  and 
Gripisspo,  37-39).  In  the  present  stanza  Atli  is  made  to  do  this 
out  of  desire  for  Sigurth’s  treasure.  Ilunnish  race:  this  may  be 

[418] 


Guthrunarkvitha  I 


25.  By  the  pillars  she  stood,  and  gathered  her 
strength, 

From  the  eyes  of  Brynhild,  Buthli’s  daughter, 
Fire  there  burned,  and  venom  she  breathed, 
When  the  wounds  she  saw  on  Sigurth  then. 

Guthrun  went  thence  away  to  a  forest  in  the  waste, 
and  journeyed  all  the  way  to  Denmark,  and  was  there 
seven  half-years  with  Thora,  daughter  of  Hokon.  Bryn¬ 
hild  would  not  live  after  Sigurth.  She  had  eight  of  her 
thralls  slain  and  five  serving-women.  Then  she  killed  her¬ 
self  with  a  sword,  as  is  told  in  the  Short  Lay  of  Sigurth. 


merely  an  error  (neither  Gunnar  nor  Sigurth  could  properly 
have  been  connected  in  any  way  with  Atli  and  his  Huns),  based 
on  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  wherein  Sigurth  appears  more 
than  once  as  the  “Hunnish  king.”  The  North  was  very  much  in 
the  dark  as  to  the  differences  between  Germans,  Burgundians, 
Franks,  Goths,  and  Huns,  and  used  the  words  without  much 
discrimination.  On  the  other  hand,  it  may  refer  to  Sigurth’s  ap¬ 
pearance  when,  adorned  with  gold,  he  came  with  Gunnar  to 
besiege  Atli,  in  the  alternative  version  of  the  story  just  cited  (cf. 
Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  36).  Flame  of  the  snake* s  hed:  gold, 
so  called  because  serpents  and  dragons  were  the  traditional 
guardians  of  treasure,  on  which  they  lay. 

Prose.  The  manuscript  has  “Gunnar”  in  place  of  “Guthrun,” 
but  this  is  an  obvious  mistake;  the  entire  prose  passage  is  based 
on  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  14.  The  V olsungasaga  likewise  merely 
paraphrases  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  and  nothing  further  is  known 
of  Thora  or  her  father,  Hokon,  though  many  inconclusive  at¬ 
tempts  have  been  made  to  identify  the  latter.  Brynhild:  the  story 
of  her  death  is  told  in  great  detail  in  the  latter  part  of  Sigurthar¬ 
kvitha  en  skamma. 


[419] 


SIGURTHARKV1THA  EN  SKAMMA 

The  Short  Lay  of  Sigurth 

Introductory  Note 

Guthrunarkvitha  I  is  immediately  followed  in  the  Codex 
Regius  by  a  long  poem  which  in  the  manuscript  bears  the  heading 
“Sigurtharkvitha,”  but  which  is  clearly  referred  to  in  the  prose 
link  between  it  and  Guthrunarkvitha  I  as  the  “short”  Lay  of 
Sigurth.  The  discrepancy  between  this  reference  and  the  obvious 
length  of  the  poem  has  led  to  many  conjectures,  but  the  explana¬ 
tion  seems  to  be  that  the  “long”  Sigurth  lay,  of  which  the  Brot  is 
presumably  a  part,  was  materially  longer  even  than  this  poem. 
The  efforts  to  reduce  the  “short”  Sigurth  lay  to  dimensions  which 
would  justify  the  appellation  in  comparison  with  other  poems  in 
the  collection,  either  by  separating  it  into  two  poems  or  by  the 
rejection  of  many  stanzas  as  interpolations,  have  been  utterly 
inconclusive. 

Although  there  are  probably  several  interpolated  passages, 
and  indications  of  omissions  are  not  lacking,  the  poem  as  we 
now  have  it  seems  to  be  a  distinct  and  coherent  unit.  From  the 
narrative  point  of  view  it  leaves  a  good  deal  to  be  desired,  for 
the  reason  that  the  poet’s  object  was  by  no  means  to  tell  a  story, 
with  which  his  hearers  were  quite  familiar,  but  to  use  the  narra¬ 
tive  simply  as  the  background  for  vivid  and  powerful  characteri¬ 
zation.  The  lyric  element,  as  Mogk  points  out,  overshadows  the 
epic  throughout,  and  the  fact  that  there  are  frequent  confusions 
of  narrative  tradition  does  not  trouble  the  poet  at  all. 

The  material  on  which  the  poem  was  based  seems  to  have 
existed  in  both  prose  and  verse  form;  the  poet  was  almost  cer¬ 
tainly  familiar  with  some  of  the  other  poems  in  the  Eddie  collec¬ 
tion,  with  poems  which  have  since  been  lost,  and  with  the 
narrative  prose  traditions  which  never  fully  assumed  verse 
form.  The  fact  that  he  seems  to  have  known  and  used  the 
Oddrunargratr,  which  can  hardly  have  been  composed  before 
1050,  and  that  in  any  case  he  introduces  the  figure  of  Oddrun, 
a  relatively  late  addition  to  the  story,  dates  the  poem  as  late  as 
the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  or  even  the  first  half  of  the 
twelfth.  There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  where  it  was  com¬ 
posed,  the  debate  centering  chiefly  on  the  reference  to  glaciers 
(stanza  8).  There  is  something  to  be  said  in  favor  of  Greenland 

[  420  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

as  the  original  home  of  the  poem  (cf.  introductory  note  to 
Atlakvitha) ,  but  the  arguments  for  Iceland  are  even  stronger; 
Norway  in  this  case  is  practically  out  of  the  question. 

The  narrative  features  of  the  poem  are  based  on  the  German 
rather  than  the  Norse  elements  of  the  story  (cf.  introductory 
note  to  Gripisspo) ,  but  the  poet  has  taken  whatever  material  he 
wanted  without  much  discrimination  as  to  its  source.  By  the  year 
iioo  the  story  of  Sigurth,  with  its  allied  legends,  existed  through¬ 
out  the  North  in  many  and  varied  forms,  and  the  poem  shows 
traces  of  variants  of  the  main  story  which  do  not  appear 
elsewhere, 


I.  Of  old  did  Sigurth  Gjuki  seek, 

The  Volsung  young,  in  battles  victor; 
Well  he  trusted  the  brothers  twain, 

With  mighty  oaths  among  them  sworn. 


2 


A  maid  they  gave  him, 
Guthrun  the  young, 
They  drank  and  spake 
Sigurth  the  young 


and  jewels  many, 
the  daughter  of  Gjuki; 
full  many  a  day, 
and  Gjuki’s  sons. 


3.  Thereafter  went  they  Brynhild  to  woo, 
And  so  with  them  did  Sigurth  ride, 


1.  Gjuki:  father  of  the  brothers  twain,  Gunnar  and  Hogni, 
and  of  Guthrun.  In  this  version  of  the  story  Sigurth  goes  straight 
to  the  home  of  the  Gjukungs  after  his  victory  over  the  dragon 
Fafnir,  without  meeting  Brynhild  on  the  way  (cf.  Gripisspo,  13 
and  note).  Volsung:  Sigurth’s  grandfather  was  Volsung;  cf.  Fra 
Dautha  Sinfjotla  and  note.  Oaths:  regarding  the  blood-brother¬ 
hood  sworn  by  Sigurth,  Gunnar,  and  Hogni  cf.  Brot,  18  and  note. 

3.  Brynhild:  on  the  winning  of  Brynhild  by  Sigurth  in  Gun- 
nar’s  shape  cf.  Gripisspo,  37  and  note.  The  poet  here  omits  de- 

[421] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  Volsung  young,  in  battle  valiant, — 
Himself  would  have  had  her  if  all  he  had  seen. 

4.  The  southern  hero  his  naked  sword, 
Fair-flashing,  let  between  them  lie; 

(Nor  would  he  come  the  maid  to  kiss;) 

The  Hunnish  king  in  his  arms  ne’er  held 
The  maiden  he  gave  to  Gjuki’s  sons. 

5.  Ill  she  had  known  not  in  all  her  life, 

And  nought  of  the  sorrows  of  men  she  knew; 
Blame  she  had  not,  nor  dreamed  she  should  bear 
it, 

But  cruel  the  fates  that  among  them  came. 


tails,  and  in  stanzas  32-39  appears  a  quite  different  tradition 
regarding  the  winning  of  Brynhild,  which  I  suspect  he  had  in 
mind  throughout  the  poem. 

4.  Southern  hero :  Sigurth,  whose  Frankish  origin  is  seldom 
wholly  lost  sight  of  in  the  Norse  versions  of  the  story.  On  the 
episode  of  the  sword  cf.  Gripisspo,  41  and  note.  Line  3  may  well 
be  an  interpolation;  both  lines  4  and  5  have  also  been  ques¬ 
tioned,  and  some  editions  combine  line  5  with  lines  1-3  of  stanza 
5.  Hunnish  king:  Sigurth,  who  was,  of  course,  not  a  king  of  the 
Huns,  but  was  occasionally  so  called  in  the  later  poems  owing 
to  the  lack  of  ethnological  distinction  made  by  the  Norse  poets 
(cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  1,  24  and  note). 

5.  This  stanza  may  refer,  as  Gering  thinks,  merely  to  the  fact 
that  Brynhild  lived  happy  and  unsuspecting  as  Gunnar’s  wife 
until  the  fatal  quarrel  with  Guthrun  (cf.  Gripisspo,  45  and  note) 
revealed  to  her  the  deceit  whereby  she  had  been  won,  or  it  may 
refer  to  the  version  of  the  story  which  appears  in  stanzas  32-39, 
wherein  Brynhild  lived  happily  with  Atli,  her  brother,  until  he 
was  attacked  by  Gunnar  and  Sigurth,  and  was  compelled  to  give 
his  sister  to  Gunnar,  winning  her  consent  thereto  by  representing 

[  422  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 


6.  By  herself  at  the  end 
And  in  open  words 
“I  shall  Sigurth  have, 
E’en  though  within 


of  day  she  sat, 
her  heart  she  uttered: 

the  hero  young, 
my  arms  he  die. 


7.  “The  word  I  have  spoken;  soon  shall  I  rue  it, 
His  wife  is  Guthrun,  and  Gunnar’s  am  I ; 

Ill  Norns  set  for  me  long  desire.” 

8.  Oft  did  she  go  with  grieving  heart 
On  the  glacier’s  ice  at  even-tide, 

When  Guthrun  then  to  her  bed  was  gone, 

And  the  bedclothes  Sigurth  about  her  laid. 

9.  “  (Now  Gjuki’s  child  to  her  lover  goes,) 


Gunnar  as  Sigurth,  her  chosen  hero  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  24 
and  note).  The  manuscript  marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a 
new  stanza,  and  many  editors  combine  it  with  stanza  6. 

6.  Brynhild  has  now  discovered  the  deceit  that  has  been  prac¬ 
tised  on  her.  That  she  had  loved  Sigurth  from  the  outset  (cf. 
stanza  40)  fits  well  with  the  version  of  the  story  wherein  Sigurth 
meets  her  before  he  comes  to  Gunnar’s  home  (the  version  not 
used  in  this  poem),  or  the  one  outlined  in  the  note  on  stanza  5, 
but  does  not  accord  with  the  story  of  Sigurth’s  first  meeting 
Brynhild  in  Gunnar’s  form — an  added  reason  for  believing  that 
the  poet  in  stanzas  5-6  had  in  mind  the  story  represented  by 
stanzas  32-39.  The  hero:  the  manuscript  originally  had  the 
phrase  thus,  then  corrected  it  to  “though  I  die,”  and  finally 
crossed  out  the  correction.  Many  editions  have  “I.” 

7.  Perhaps  a  line  is  missing  after  line  3. 

8.  Glacier:  a  bit  of  Icelandic  (or  Greenland)  local  color. 

9.  Line  1  does  not  appear  in  the  manuscript,  and  is  based  on 

[423  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  the  Hunnish  king  with  his  wife  is  happy; 
Joyless  I  am  and  mateless  ever, 

Till  cries  from  my  heavy  heart  burst  forth.” 


10.  In  her  wrath  to  battle  she  roused  herself: 
“Gunnar,  now  thou  needs  must  lose 
Lands  of  mine  and  me  myself, 

No  joy  shall  I  have  with  the  hero  ever. 

11.  “Back  shall  I  fare  where  first  I  dwelt, 

Among  the  kin  that  come  of  my  race, 

To  wait  there,  sleeping  my  life  away, 

If  Sigurth’s  death  thou  shalt  not  dare, 

(And  best  of  heroes  thou  shalt  not  be.) 

12.  “The  son  shall  fare  with  his  father  hence, 
And  let  not  long  the  wolf-cub  live ; 

Lighter  to  pay  is  the  vengeance-price 
After  the  deed  if  the  son  is  dead.” 


13.  Sad  was  Gunnar, 
Deep  in  thought 


and  bowed  with  grief, 
the  whole  day  through; 


a  conjecture  by  Bugge.  Some  editions  add  line  2  to  stanza  8. 
The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza, 
and  some  editors  assume  a  gap  of  two  lines  after  line  4.  Hunnish 
king:  cf.  stanza  4. 

10.  Lands:  Brynhild’s  wealth  again  points  to  the  story  repre¬ 
sented  by  stanzas  32-39;  elsewhere  she  is  not  spoken  of  as 
bringing  wealth  to  Gunnar. 

xi.  Line  5,  or  perhaps  line  3,  may  be  interpolated. 

12.  The  son:  the  three-year-old  son  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun, 
Sigmund,  who  was  killed  at  Brynhild’s  behest. 

[  424  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

Yet  from  his  heart  it  was  ever  hid 
What  deed  most  fitting  he  should  find, 

(Or  what  thing  best  for  him  should  be, 

Or  if  he  should  seek  the  Volsung  to  slay, 

For  with  mighty  longing  Sigurth  he  loved.) 

14.  Much  he  pondered  for  many  an  hour; 

Never  before  was  the  wonder  known 

That  a  queen  should  thus  her  kingdom  leave ; 
In  counsel  then  did  he  Hogni  call, 

(For  him  in  truest  trust  he  held.) 

15.  “More  than  all  to  me  is  Brynhild, 

Buthli’s  child,  the  best  of  women; 

My  very  life  would  I  sooner  lose 
Than  yield  the  love  of  yonder  maid. 

16.  “Wilt  thou  the  hero  for  wealth  betray? 


13.  This  stanza  has  been  the  subject  of  many  conjectural 
emendations.  Some  editions  assume  a  gap  after  line  2,  and  make 
a  separate  stanza  of  lines  3-7;  others  mark  lines  5-7  as  spurious. 
The  stanza  seems  to  have  been  expanded  by  repetition.  Grief 
(line  1) :  the  manuscript  has  “wrath,”  involving  a  metrical  error. 

14.  Bugge  and  Gering  transfer  lines  4-5  to  the  beginning  of 
stanza  16,  on  the  basis  of  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase,  and 
assume  a  gap  of  one  line  after  line  3.  Line  5,  which  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  stereotyped  clause,  may  well  be  interpolated. 

15.  After  “Buthli”  in  line  2  the  manuscript  has  “my  brother,” 
apparently  a  scribal  error.  In  line  4  the  manuscript  has  “wealth” 
instead  of  “love,”  apparently  with  stanza  10  in  mind,  but  the 
V olsungasaga  paraphrase  has  “love,”  and  many  editors  have 
suspected  an  error. 

16.  Cf.  note  on  stanza  14.  After  thus  adding  lines  4-5  of 

[  425  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


:Twere  good  to  have  the  gold  of  the  Rhine, 
And  all  the  hoard  in  peace  to  hold, 

And  waiting  fortune  thus  to  win.” 

17.  Few  the  words  of  Hogni  were: 

“Us  it  beseems  not  so  to  do, 

To  cleave  with  swords  the  oaths  we  swore, 
The  oaths  we  swore  and  all  our  vows. 

18.  “We  know  no  mightier  men  on  earth 
The  while  we  four  o’er  the  folk  hold  sway, 
And  while  the  Hunnish  hero  lives, 

Nor  higher  kinship  the  world  doth  hold. 

19.  “If  sons  we  five  shall  soon  beget, 

Great,  methinks,  our  race  shall  grow; 


stanza  14  at  the  beginning  of  stanza  16,  Gering  marks  line  4  as 
probably  spurious;  others  reject  both  lines  3  and  4  as  mere  repe¬ 
titions.  Rhine:  the  Rhine,  the  sands  of  which  traditionally  con¬ 
tained  gold,  was  apparently  the  original  home  of  the  treasure 
of  the  Nibelungs,  converted  in  the  North  to  Andvari’s  treasure 
(cf.  Reginsmol,  1-9).  That  greed  for  Sigurth’s  wealth  was  one 
of  the  motives  for  his  slaying  is  indicated  likewise  in  Guthrun- 
arkvitha  1 ,  20,  and  in  the  German  versions  of  the  story. 

18.  TV e  four:  if  line  1  of  stanza  19  is  spurious,  or  the  refer¬ 
ence  therein  to  “five”  is  a  blunder,  as  may  well  be  the  case,  then 
the  “four”  are  Sigurth  and  the  three  brothers,  Gunnar,  Hogni, 
and  Gotthorm.  But  it  may  be  that  the  poet  had  in  mind  a  tradi¬ 
tion  which,  as  in  the  Thithrekssaga,  gave  Gjuki  a  fourth  son,  in 
which  case  the  “four”  refers  only  to  the  four  Gjukungs.  Hunnish 
hero:  Sigurth;  cf.  stanza  4  and  note.  Some  editions  put  line  4 
between  lines  1  and  2.  Some  add  lines  1-2  of  stanza  19  to  stanza 
18,  marking  them  as  spurious. 

19.  We  five:  see  note  on  preceding  stanza.  Some  editors  mark 

[426] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

Well  I  see  whence  lead  the  ways; 

Too  bitter  far  is  Brynhild’s  hate.” 

Gunnar  spake: 

20.  “Gotthorm  to  wrath  we  needs  must  rouse, 
Our  younger  brother,  in  rashness  blind ; 
He  entered  not  in  the  oaths  we  swore, 

The  oaths  we  swore  and  all  our  vows.” 

21.  It  was  easy  to  rouse  the  reckless  one. 

•  ••••••  ••••••• 

The  sword  in  the  heart  of  Sigurth  stood. 

22.  In  vengeance  the  hero  rose  in  the  hall, 

And  hurled  his  sword  at  the  slayer  bold ; 


lines  i-2  as  spurious,  and  either  assume  a  gap  of  two  lines  after 
line  4  or  combine  lines  3-4  with  stanza  20.  Whence  lead  the 
ways:  a  proverbial  expression  signifying  “whence  the  trouble 
comes.” 

20.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  Gotthorm 
(the  name  is  variously  spelt)  :  half-brother  of  Gunnar  and  Hogni 
(cf.  Hyndluljoth,  27  and  note,  and  Brot,  4  and  note).  The  name 
is  the  northern  form  of  Gundomar;  a  prince  of  this  name  is 
mentioned  in  the  Lex  Burgundionum,  apparently  as  a  brother 
of  Gundahari  (Gundicarius) .  In  the  Nibelungenlied  the  third 
brother  is  called  Gernot. 

21.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  and  many  editors 
combine  stanza  21  with  stanza  22,  but  it  seems  likely  that  not 
only  two  lines,  but  one  or  more  stanzas  in  addition,  have  been 
lost;  cf.  Brot,  4,  and  also  the  detailed  account  of  the  slaying  of 
Sigurth  in  the  V olsungasaga,  wherein,  as  here,  Sigurth  is  killed 
in  his  bed  (cf.  stanza  24)  and  not  in  the  forest. 

22.  Some  editions  combine  lines  3-4  with  stanza  23.  Gram: 

[  427  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


At  Gotthorm  flew  the  glittering  steel 
Of  Gram  full  hard  from  the  hand  of  the  king. 

23.  The  foeman  cleft  asunder  fell, 

Forward  hands  and  head  did  sink, 

And  legs  and  feet  did  backward  fall. 

24.  Guthrun  soft  in  her  bed  had  slept, 

Safe  from  care  at  Sigurth’s  side ; 

She  woke  to  find  her  joy  had  fled, 

In  the  blood  of  the  friend  of  Freyr  she  lay. 

25.  So  hard  she  smote  her  hands  together 
That  the  hero  rose  up,  iron-hearted: 

“Weep  not,  Guthrun,  grievous  tears, 

Bride  so  young,  for  thy  brothers  live. 

26.  “Too  young,  methinks,  is  my  son  as  yet, 

He  cannot  flee  from  the  home  of  his  foes; 


Sigurth’s  sword  (cf.  Reginsmol,  prose  after  stanza  14)  ;  the  word 
here,  however,  may  not  be  a  proper  name,  but  may  mean  “the 
hero.” 

23.  A  line  may  well  have  been  lost  from  this  stanza. 

24.  Freyr:  if  the  phrase  “the  friend  of  Freyr”  means  any¬ 
thing  more  than  “king”  (cf.  Rigsthula,  46  etc.),  which  I  doubt, 
it  has  reference  to  the  late  tradition  that  Freyr,  and  not  Othin, 
was  the  ancestor  of  the  Volsungs  (cf.  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana 
I,  57  and  note). 

25.  Miillenhoff  thinks  this  stanza,  or  at  any  rate  lines  1-2,  a 
later  addition  based  on  stanza  29. 

26.  My  son:  Sigmund;  cf.  stanza  12  and  note,  and  also  Brot, 
9  and  note. 


[428] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

Fearful  and  deadly  the  plan  thqy  found, 

The  counsel  new  that  now  they  have  heeded. 

27.  “No  son  will  ride,  though  seven  thou  hast, 

To  the  Thing  as  the  son  of  their  sister  rides; 
Well  I  see  who  the  ill  has  worked, 

On  Brynhild  alone  lies  the  blame  for  all. 

28.  “Above  all  men  the  maiden  loved  me, 

Yet  false  to  Gunnar  I  ne’er  was  found; 

I  kept  the  oaths  and  the  kinship  I  swore ; 

Of  his  queen  the  lover  none  may  call  me. 

29.  In  a  swoon  she  sank  when  Sigurth  died ; 

So  hard  she  smote  her  hands  together 
That  all  the  cups  in  the  cupboard  rang, 

And  loud  in  the  courtyard  cried  the  geese. 

30.  Then  Brynhild,  daughter  of  Buthli,  laughed, 
Only  once,  with  all  her  heart, 

When  as  she  lay  full  loud  she  heard 
The  grievous  wail  of  Gjuki’s  daughter. 


27.  Sigurth  means  that  although  Guthrun  may  have  seven 
sons  by  a  later  marriage,  none  of  them  will  equal  Sigmund,  “son 
of  their  (i.e.,  Gunnar’s  and  Hogni’s)  sister.”  Thing:  council. 

28.  Sigurth’s  protestation  of  guiltlessness  fits  perfectly  with 
the  story  of  his  relations  with  Brynhild  used  in  this  poem,  but 
not,  of  course,  with  the  alternative  version,  used  in  the  Gripisspo 
and  elsewhere,  wherein  Sigurth  meets  Brynhild  before  he  woos 
her  for  Gunnar,  and  they  have  a  daughter,  Aslaug. 

29.  Cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  15. 

30.  Cf.  Brot,  10. 


[  429  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


31.  Then  Gunnar,  monarch  of  men,  spake  forth: 
“Thou  dost  not  laugh,  thou  lover  of  hate, 

In  gladness  there,  or  for  aught  of  good; 

Why  has  thy  face  so  white  a  hue, 

Mother  of  ill?  Foredoomed  thou  art. 

32.  “A  worthier  woman  wouldst  thou  have  been 
If  before  thine  eyes  we  had  Atli  slain; 

If  thy  brother’s  bleeding  body  hadst  seen 
And  the  bloody  wounds  that  thou  shouldst  bind.” 

Brynhild  spake: 

33.  “None  mock  thee,  Gunnar!  thou  hast  mightily 

fought, 

But  thy  hatred  little  doth  Atli  heed ; 

Longer  than  thou,  methinks,  shall  he  live, 

And  greater  in  might  shall  he  ever  remain. 


31.  Line  1  may  well  be  a  mere  expansion  of  “Gunnar  spake.” 
The  manuscript  marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza, 
and  some  editions  combine  lines  4-5  with  stanza  32. 

32.  This  stanza,  which  all  editors  have  accepted  as  an  inte¬ 
gral  part  of  the  poem,  apparently  refers  to  the  same  story  repre¬ 
sented  by  stanzas  37-39,  which  most  editors  have  (I  believe 
mistakenly)  marked  as  interpolated.  As  is  pointed  out  in  the 
notes  on  stanzas  3,  5,  6  and  10,  the  poet  throughout  seems  to  have 
accepted  the  version  of  the  story  wherein  Gunnar  and  Sigurth 
besiege  Atli,  and  are  bought  off  by  the  gift  of  Atli’s  sister, 
Brynhild,  to  Gunnar  as  wife,  her  consent  being  won  by  Atli’s 
representation  that  Gunnar  is  Sigurth  (cf.  also  Guthrunark<vitha 
I,  24  and  note). 

33.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker,  and  some  edi¬ 
tions  add  a  first  line:  “Then  Brynhild,  daughter  of  Buthli, 
spake.” 


[  430  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 


34.  “To  thee  I  say, 

That  all  these  ills 
No  bonds  I  knew, 

And  wealth  I  had 

35.  “Never  a  husband 
Before  the  Gjukungs 
Three  were  the  kings 
Need  of  their  journey 


and  thyself  thou  knowest, 
thou  didst  early  shape; 
nor  sorrow  bore, 
in  my  brother’s  home. 

sought  I  to  have, 
fared  to  our  land ; 
on  steeds  that  came, 
never  there  was. 


36.  “To  the  hero  great 
Who  gold-decked  sat 
Not  like  to  thine 
(Nor  like  in  form 
Though  kingly  both 


my  troth  I  gave 
on  Grani’s  back ; 
was  the  light  of  his  eyes, 
and  face  are  ye,) 
ye  seemed  to  be. 


37.  “And  so  to  me  did  Atli  say 

That  share  in  our  wealth  I  should  not  have, 


34.  Cf.  stanza  5. 

35.  Three  kings :  Gunnar,  Hogni,  and  Sigurth. 

36.  Some  editions  place  this  stanza  after  stanza  39,  on  the 
theory  that  stanzas  37-39  are  interpolated.  Line  4,  as  virtually  a 
repetition  of  line  3,  has  generally  been  marked  as  spurious.  In 
this  version  of  the  winning  of  Brynhild  it  appears  that  Atli 
pointed  out  Sigurth  as  Gunnar,  and  Brynhild  promptly  fell  in 
love  with  the  hero  whom,  as  he  rode  on  Grant  and  was  decked 
with  some  of  the  spoils  taken  from  Fafnir,  she  recognized  as  the 
dragon’s  slayer.  Thus  no  change  of  form  between  Sigurth  and 
Gunnar  was  necessary.  The  oath  to  marry  Gunnar  had  to  be 
carried  out  even  after  Brynhild  had  discovered  the  deception. 

37.  Most  editors  mark  stanzas  37-39  as  interpolated,  but  cf. 
note  on  stanza  32.  Stanza  37  has  been  variously  emended.  Lines 
4  and  6  look  like  interpolated  repetitions,  but  many  editors  make 

[431] 


Poetic  Edda 


Of  gold  or  lands,  if  my  hand  I  gave  not ; 
(More  evil  yet,  the  wealth  I  should  yield,) 

The  gold  that  he  in  my  childhood  gave  me, 
(The  wealth  from  him  in  my  youth  I  had.) 


38.  “Oft  in  my  mind 

If  still  I  should  fight, 
Brave  in  my  byrnie, 
That  would  wide 
And  sorrow  for  many 

39.  “But  the  bond  at  last 
For  more  the  hoard 
The  rings  that  the  son 
No  other’s  treasure 

40.  “One  alone  of  all 
Nor  changing  heart 
All  in  the  end  sha 


[  pondered  much 

and  warriors  fell, 
my  brother  defying; 
in  the  world  be  known, 
a  man  would  make. 

I  let  be  made, 

I  longed  to  have, 
of  Sigmund  won; 
e’er  I  sought. 

I  loved, 

I  ever  had; 

1  Atli  know, 


two  stanzas,  following  the  manuscript  in  beginning  a  new  stanza 
with  line  4.  After  line  1  Grundtvig  adds:  “Son  of  Buthli,  and 
brother  of  mine.”  After  line  6  Bugge  adds:  “Not  thou  was  it, 
Gunnar,  who  Grani  rode,  /  Though  thou  my  brother  with 
rings  didst  buy.”  Regarding  Brynhild’s  wealth  cf.  stanza  10  and 
note. 

38.  Brynhild  here  again  appears  as  a  Valkyrie.  The  manu¬ 
script  marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza.  Any  one  of 
the  last  three  lines  may  be  spurious. 

39.  Some  editions  combine  this  stanza  with  lines  4-5  of  stanza 
38,  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  40,  or  with  the  whole  of  stanza  40. 
The  bond:  Brynhild  thought  she  was  marrying  Sigurth,  owner  of 
the  treasure,  whereas  she  was  being  tricked  into  marrying 
Gunnar. 


[432  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

When  he  hears  I  have  gone  on  the  death-road 
hence.” 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


41.  “Never  a  wife 
Yet  to  another 


of  fickle  will 
man  should  yield. 


So  vengence  for  all  my  ills  shall  come.” 


42.  Up  rose  Gunnar, 
And  flung  his  arms 
And  all  who  came, 
Sought  to  hold  her 


the  people’s  ruler, 
round  her  neck  so  fair; 
of  every  kind, 
with  all  their  hearts. 


43- 


But  back  she  cast  all  those  who  came, 
Nor  from  the  long  road  let  them  hold  her; 


41.  At  this  point  there  seem  to  be  several  omissions.  Bryn- 
hild’s  statement  in  lines  1-2  seems  to  refer  to  the  episode,  not 
here  mentioned  but  told  in  detail  in  the  V olsungasaga,  of 
Sigurth’s  effort  to  repair  the  wrong  that  has  been  done  her  by 
himself  giving  up  Guthrun  in  her  favor,  an  offer  which  she 
refuses.  The  lacuna  here  suggested,  which  is  not  indicated  in 
the  manuscript,  may  be  simply  a  single  line  (line  1)  or  a  stanza 
or  more.  After  line  2  there  is  almost  certainly  a  gap  of  at  least 
one  stanza,  and  possibly  more,  in  which  Brynhild  states  her 
determination  to  die. 

42.  Hardly  any  two  editions  agree  as  to  the  arrangement  of 
the  lines  in  stanzas  42-44.  I  have  followed  the  manuscript  ex¬ 
cept  in  transposing  line  4  of  stanza  43  to  this  position  from  the 
place  it  holds  in  the  manuscript  after  line  4  of  stanza  44.  All 
the  other  arrangements  involve  the  rejection  of  two  or  more 
lines  as  spurious  and  the  assumption  of  various  gaps.  Gering  and 
Sijmons  both  arrange  the  lines  thus:  42,  1-2;  two-line  gap;  43,  3 

[  433  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


In  counsel  then  did  he  Hogni  call: 

“Of  wisdom  now  full  great  is  our  need. 

44.  “Let  the  warriors  here  in  the  hall  come  forth, 
Thine  and  mine,  for  the  need  is  mighty, 

If  haply  the  queen  from  death  they  may  hold, 
Till  her  fearful  thoughts  with  time  shall  fade.” 

45.  (Few  the  words  of  Hogni  were:) 

“From  the  long  road  now  shall  ye  hold  her  not, 
That  born  again  she  may  never  be! 

Foul  she  came  from  her  mother  forth, 

And  born  she  was  for  wicked  deeds, 

(Sorrow  to  many  a  man  to  bring.)” 

46.  From  the  speaker  gloomily  Gunnar  turned, 

For  the  jewel-bearer  her  gems  was  dividing; 


(marked  probably  spurious) ;  44,  1-4;  43-4  (marked  probably 
spurious)  ;  42,  3-4;  43,  1-2. 

43.  Cf.  note  on  preceding  stanza. 

44.  Cf.  note  on  stanza  42. 

45.  Perhaps  the  remains  of  two  stanzas;  the  manuscript 
marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza,  and  after  line  4 
an  added  line  has  been  suggested:  “She  was  ever  known  for 
evil  thoughts.”  On  the  other  hand,  line  1,  identical  with  line  1  of 
stanza  17,  may  well  be  a  mere  expansion  of  “Hogni  spake,”  and 
line  6  may  have  been  introduced,  with  a  slight  variation,  from 
line  5  of  stanza  38.  Born  again:  this  looks  like  a  trace  of  Chris¬ 
tian  influence  (the  poem  was  composed  well  after  the  coming  of 
Christianity  to  Iceland)  in  the  assumption  that  if  Brynhild  killed 
herself  she  could  not  be  “born  again”  (cf.  concluding  prose  to 
Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II). 

46.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  stanza ;  some 

[  434] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

On  all  her  wealth  her  eyes  were  gazing, 

On  the  bond-women  slain  and  the  slaughtered 
slaves. 

47.  Her  byrnie  of  gold  she  donned,  and  grim 
Was  her  heart  ere  the  point  of  her  sword  had 

pierced  it; 

On  the  pillow  at  last  her  head  she  laid, 

And,  wounded,  her  plan  she  pondered  o’er. 

48.  “Hither  I  will  that  my  women  come 
Who  gold  are  fain  from  me  to  get; 

Necklaces  fashioned  fair  to  each 

Shall  I  give,  and  cloth,  and  garments  bright.” 

49.  Silent  were  all  as  so  she  spake, 

And  all  together  answer  made: 

“Slain  are  enough ;  we  seek  to  live, 

Not  thus  thy  women  shall  honor  win.” 


editions  treat  lines  1-2  as  a  separate  stanza,  and  combine  lines 
3-4  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  47.  Jewel-bearer  (literally  “land  of 
jewels”)  :  woman,  here  Brynhild.  Bond-women,  etc.:  in  stanza  69 
we  learn  that  five  female  slaves  and  eight  serfs  were  killed  to  be 
burned  on  the  funeral  pyre,  and  thus  to  follow  Sigurth  in  death. 

47.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3,  and  not  line  1,  as  beginning 
a  stanza,  and  some  editions  treat  lines  3-4  as  a  separate  stanza, 
or  combine  them  with  stanza  48. 

48.  Brynhild  means,  as  stanzas  49-51  show,  that  those  of  her 
women  who  wish  to  win  rewards  must  be  ready  to  follow  her  in 
death.  The  word  translated  “women”  in  line  1  is  conjectural,  but 
the  general  meaning  is  clear  enough. 

49.  In  place  of  “as  so  she  spake”  in  line  1  the  manuscript  has 

[  435  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


50.  Long  the  woman,  linen-decked,  pondered, — 

— Young  she  was, —  and  weighed  her  words: 

“For  my  sake  now  shall  none  unwilling 

Or  loath  to  die  her  life  lay  down. 

51.  “But  little  of  gems  to  gleam  on  your  limbs 
Ye  then  shall  find  when  forth  ye  fare 
To  follow  me,  or  of  Menja’s  wealth. 


52.  “Sit  now,  Gunnar!  for  I  shall  speak 

Of  thy  bride  so  fair  and  so  fain  to  die; 

Thy  ship  in  harbor  home  thou  hast  not, 
Although  my  life  I  now  have  lost. 

53.  “Thou  shalt  Guthrun  requite  more  quick  than 

thou  thinkest, 


Though  sadly  mourns  the  maiden  wise 
Who  dwells  with  the  king,  o’er  her  husband 
dead. 


“of  their  plans  they  thought,”  which  involves  a  metrical  error. 

51.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  many  editions  place 
it  between  lines  3  and  4.  Menja’s  wealth:  gold;  the  story  of  the 
mill  Grotti,  whereby  the  giantesses  Menja  and  Fenja  ground 
gold  for  King  Frothi,  is  told  in  the  Grottasongr. 

52.  With  this  stanza  begins  Brynhild’s  prophesy  of  what  is  to 
befall  Gunnar,  Guthrun,  Atli,  and  the  many  others  involved  in 
their  fate.  Line  3  is  a  proverbial  expression  meaning  simply 
“your  troubles  are  not  at  an  end.” 

53.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  one  suggestion 
for  line  2  runs:  “Grimhild  shall  make  her  to  laugh  once 

[436] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

54.  “A  maid  shall  then  the  mother  bear; 
Brighter  far  than  the  fairest  day 
Svanhild  shall  be,  or  the  beams  of  the  sun. 

55.  “Guthrun  a  noble  husband  thou  givest, 

Yet  to  many  a  warrior  woe  will  she  bring, 
Not  happily  wedded  she  holds  herself; 

Her  shall  Atli  hither  seek, 

(Buthli’s  son,  and  brother  of  mine.) 

56.  “Well  I  remember  how  me  ye  treated 
When  ye  betrayed  me  with  treacherous  wiles; 


Lost  was  my  joy  as  long  as  I  lived. 


more.”  Gering  suggests  a  loss  of  three  lines,  and  joins  lines  3-4 
with  stanza  54. 

54.  Probably  a  line  has  been  lost  from  this  stanza.  Grundtvig 
adds  as  a  new  first  line:  “Her  shalt  thou  find  in  the  hall  of 
Half.”  Some  editions  query  line  3  as  possibly  spurious.  Svanhild: 
the  figure  of  Svanhild  is  exceedingly  old.  The  name  means 
“Swan-Maiden-Warrior,”  applying  to  just  such  mixtures  of 
swan-maiden  and  Valkyrie  as  appear  in  the  Völundarkvitha. 
Originally  part  of  a  separate  tradition,  Svanhild  appears  first 
to  have  been  incorporated  in  the  Jormunrek  (Ermanarich)  story 
as  the  unhappy  wife  of  that  monarch,  and  much  later  to  have 
been  identified  as  the  daughter  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun,  thus 
linking  the  two  sets  of  legends. 

55.  Line  2  in  the  original  is  almost  totally  obscure.  Line  4 
should  very  possibly  precede  line  2,  while  line  5  looks  like  an 
unwarranted  addition. 

56.  This  stanza  probably  ought  to  follow  stanza  52,  as  it 
refers  solely  to  the  winning  of  Brynhild  by  Gunnar  and  Sigurth. 
Mullenhoff  regards  stanzas  53-55  as  interpolated.  The  manu¬ 
script  indicates  no  gap  after  line  3. 

[  437  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


57.  “Oddrun  as  wife  thou  fain  wouldst  win, 

But  Atli  this  from  thee  withholds; 

Yet  in  secret  tryst  ye  twain  shall  love; 

She  shall  hold  thee  dear,  as  I  had  done 
If  kindly  fate  to  us  had  fallen. 

58.  “Ill  to  thee  shall  Atli  bring, 

When  he  casts  thee  down  in  the  den  of  snakes. 

59.  “But  soon  thereafter  Atli  too 

His  life,  methinks,  as  thou  shalt  lose, 

(His  fortune  lose  and  the  lives  of  his  sons;) 
Him  shall  Guthrun,  grim  of  heart, 

With  the  biting  blade  in  his  bed  destroy. 

60.  “It  would  better  beseem  thy  sister  fair 


57.  Stanzas  57-58  seem  to  be  the  remains  of  two  stanzas,  but 
the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase  follows  closely  the  form  here 
given.  Line  3  may  well  be  spurious;  line  5  has  likewise  been 
questioned.  Oddrun:  this  sister  of  Atli  and  Brynhild,  known 
mainly  through  the  Oddrunargratr,  is  a  purely  northern  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  cycle,  and  apparently  one  of  a  relatively  late  date. 
She  figures  solely  by  reason  of  her  love  affair  with  Gunnar. 

58.  Possibly  two  lines  have  been  lost;  many  editions  combine 
the  two  remaining  lines  with  lines  1-3  of  stanza  59.  Concerning 
the  manner  of  Gunnar’s  death  cf.  Drap  Niflunga. 

59.  Line  3  may  well  be  spurious,  as  it  is  largely  repetition. 
The  manuscript  has  “sofa”  (“sleep”)  in  place  of  “sona”  (“sons”), 
but  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase  says  clearly  “sons.”  The  slay¬ 
ing  of  Atli  by  Guthrun  in  revenge  for  his  killing  of  her  brothers 
is  told  in  the  two  Atli  lays.  The  manuscript  marks  line  4  as  the 
beginning  of  a  new  stanza,  and  some  editions  make  a  separate 
stanza  out  of  lines  4-5,  or  else  combine  them  with  stanza  60. 

60.  To  follow  in  death:  this  phrase  is  not  in  Regius ,  but  is 

[438  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

To  follow  her  husband  first  in  death, 

If  counsel  good  to  her  were  given, 

Or  a  heart  akin  to  mine  she  had. 

61.  “Slowly  I  speak, —  but  for  my  sake 

Her  life,  methinks,  she  shall  not  lose; 
She  shall  wander  over  the  tossing  waves, 
To  where  Jonak  rules  his  father’s  realm. 

62.  “Sons  to  him  she  soon  shall  bear, 

Heirs  therewith  of  Jonak’s  wealth; 

But  Svanhild  far  away  is  sent, 

The  child  she  bore  to  Sigurth  brave. 

63.  “Bikki’s  word  her  death  shall  be, 

For  dreadful  the  wrath  of  Jormunrek; 
So  slain  is  all  of  Sigurth’s  race, 

And  greater  the  woe  of  Guthrun  grows. 


included  in  late  paper  manuscripts,  and  has  been  added  in  most 
editions. 

61.  Jonak:  this  king,  known  only  through  the  Hamthesmol 
and  the  stories  which,  like  this  one,  are  based  thereon,  is  another 
purely  northern  addition  to  the  legend.  The  name  is  apparently 
of  Slavic  origin.  He  appears  solely  as  Guthrun’s  third  husband 
and  the  father  of  Hamther,  Sorli,  and  Erp  (cf.  introductory 
prose  to  Guthrunarhvot) . 

62.  Svanhild:  cf.  stanza  54  and  note. 

63.  Bikki:  Svanhild  is  married  to  the  aged  Jormunrek 
(Ermanarich) ,  but  Eikki,  one  of  his  followers,  suggests  that  she 
is  unduly  intimate  with  Jormunrek’s  son,  Randver.  Thereupon 
Jormunrek  has  Randver  hanged,  and  Svanhild  torn  to  pieces  by 
wild  horses.  Ermanarich’s  cruelty  and  his  barbarous  slaying  of 
his  wife  and  son  were  familiar  traditions  long  before  they  be- 

[  439  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


64.  “Yet  one  boon  I  beg  of  thee, 

The  last  of  boons  in  my  life  it  is: 

Let  the  pyre  be  built  so  broad  in  the  field 
That  room  for  us  all  will  ample  be, 
(For  us  who  slain  with  Sigurth  are.) 


65.  “With  shields  and  carpets  cover  the  pyre, 


Shrouds  full  fair,  and  fallen  slaves, 

And  besides  the  Hunnish  hero  burn  me. 


66.  “Besides  the  Hunnish 
Slaves  shall  burn, 
Two  at  his  head 
A  brace  of  hounds 
For  so  shall  all 


hero  there 
full  bravely  decked, 
and  two  at  his  feet, 
and  a  pair  of  hawks, 
be  seemly  done. 


67.  “Let  between  us  lie  once  more 


came  in  any  way  connected  with  the  Sigurth  cycle  (cf.  introduc¬ 
tory  note  to  Gripisspo) . 

64.  Line  5  is  very  probably  spurious. 

65.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap;  a  suggested  addition 
runs  “Gold  let  there  be,  and  jewels  bright.”  Fallen  slaves: 
cf.  stanzas  66  and  69.  Hunnish  hero:  cf.  stanza  4  and  note. 

66.  In  place  of  lines  3-4  the  manuscript  has  one  line  “Two  at 
his  head,  and  a  pair  of  hawks”;  the  addition  is  made  from 
the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase.  The  burning  or  burying  of  slaves 
or  beasts  to  accompany  their  masters  in  death  was  a  general 
custom  in  the  North.  The  number  of  slaves  indicated  in  this 
stanza  does  not  tally  with  the  one  given  in  stanza  69,  wherefore 
Vigfusson  rejects  most  of  this  stanza. 

[  440  ] 


Sigurtharkvitha  en  Skamma 

The  steel  so  keen,  as  so  it  lay 
When  both  within  one  bed  we  were, 

And  wedded  mates  by  men  were  called. 

68.  “The  door  of  the  hall  shall  strike  not  the  heel 
Of  the  hero  fair  with  flashing  rings, 

If  hence  my  following  goes  with  him; 

Not  mean  our  faring  forth  shall  be. 

69.  “Bond-women  five  shall  follow  him, 

And  eight  of  my  thralls,  well-born  are  they, 
Children  with  me,  and  mine  they  were 
As  gifts  that  Buthli  his  daughter  gave. 

70.  “Much  have  I  told  thee,  and  more  would  say 
If  fate  more  space  for  speech  had  given; 

My  voice  grows  weak,  my  wounds  are  swelling; 
Truth  I  have  said,  and  so  I  die.” 


67.  Cf.  Gripisspo,  41  and  note.  After  line  1  the  manuscript 
adds  the  phrase  “bright,  ring-decked,”  referring  to  the  sword, 
but  it  is  metrically  impossible,  and  many  editions  omit  it. 

68.  The  door:  The  gate  of  Hel’s  domain,  like  that  of  Men- 
gloth’s  house  (cf.  Svipdagsmol,  26  and  note),  closes  so  fast  as  to 
catch  any  one  attempting  to  pass  through.  Apparently  the  poet 
here  assumes  that  the  gate  of  Valhall  does  likewise,  but  that  it 
will  be  kept  open  for  Sigurth’s  retinue. 

69.  Cf.  stanza  66. 


[441] 


HELREITH  BRYNHILDAR 

Brynhild' s  Hell-Ride 

Introductory  Note 

The  little  Helreith  Brynhildar  immediately  follows  the 
“short”  Sigurth  lay  in  the  Codex  Regius,  being  linked  to  it  by 
the  brief  prose  note;  the  heading,  “Brynhild’s  Ride  on  Hel- 
Way,”  stands  just  before  the  first  stanza.  The  entire  poem,  with 
the  exception  of  stanza  6,  is  likewise  quoted  in  the  N ornagests- 
thattr.  Outside  of  one  stanza  (No.  n),  which  is  a  fairly  obvious 
interpolation,  the  poem  possesses  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
dramatic  unity,  and,  certain  pedantic  commentators  notwith¬ 
standing,  it  is  one  of  the  most  vivid  and  powerful  in  the  whole 
collection.  None  the  less,  it  has  been  extensively  argued  that  parts 
of  it  belonged  originally  to  the  so-called  Sigrdrifumol.  That  it 
stands  in  close  relation  to  this  poem  is  evident  enough,  but  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  such  a  masterpiece  of  dramatic  poetry 
was  ever  the  result  of  mere  compilation.  It  seems  more  reason¬ 
able  to  regard  the  Helreith,  with  the  exception  of  stanza  n  and 
allowing  for  the  loss  of  two  lines  from  stanza  6,  as  a  complete 
and  carefully  constructed  unit,  based  undoubtedly  on  older 
poems,  but  none  the  less  an  artistic  creation  in  itself. 

The  poem  is  generally  dated  as  late  as  the  eleventh  century, 
and  the  concluding  stanza  betrays  Christian  influence  almost 
unmistakably.  It  shows  the  confusion  of  traditions  manifest  in 
all  the  later  poems;  for  example,  Brynhild  is  here  not  only  a 
Valkyrie  but  also  a  swan-maiden.  Only  three  stanzas  have  any 
reference  to  the  Guthrun-Gunnar  part  of  the  story;  otherwise 
the  poem  is  concerned  solely  with  the  episode  of  Sigurth’s  finding 
the  sleeping  Valkyrie.  Late  as  it  is,  therefore,  it  is  essentially  a 
Norse  creation,  involving  very  few  of  the  details  of  the  German 
cycle  (cf.  introductory  note  to  Gripisspo )* 


After  the  death  of  Brynhild  there  were  made  two 
bale-fires,  the  one  for  Sigurth,  and  that  burned  first,  and 
on  the  other  was  Brynhild  burned,  and  she  was  on  a 

[  442  ] 


Helreith  Brynhildar 

wagon  which  was  covered  with  a  rich  cloth.  Thus  it  is 
told,  that  Brynhild  went  in  the  wagon  on  Hel-way,  and 
passed  by  a  house  where  dwelt  a  certain  giantess.  The 
giantess  spake: 

1.  “Thou  shalt  not  further  forward  fare, 

My  dwelling  ribbed  with  rocks  across; 

More  seemly  it  were  at  thy  weaving  to  stay, 
Than  another’s  husband  here  to  follow. 

2.  “What  wouldst  thou  have  from  Valland  here, 
Fickle  of  heart,  in  this  my  house? 

Gold-goddess,  now,  if  thou  wouldst  know, 
Heroes’  blood  from  thy  hands  hast  washed.” 

Brynhild  spake: 

3.  “Chide  me  not,  woman  from  rocky  walls, 
Though  to  battle  once  I  was  wont  to  go; 

Better  than  thou  I  shall  seem  to  be, 

When  men  us  two  shall  truly  know.” 

The  giantess  spake: 

4.  “Thou  wast,  Brynhild,  Buthli’s  daughter, 


Prose.  The  prose  follows  the  last  stanza  of  Sigurtharkvitha  en 
skamma  without  break.  Two  bale-fires:  this  contradicts  the  state¬ 
ment  made  in  the  concluding  stanzas  of  Sigurtharkvitha  en 
skamma,  that  Sigurth  and  Brynhild  were  burned  on  the  same 
pyre;  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  annotator  here  had  anything 
but  his  own  mistaken  imagination  to  go  on. 

2.  Valland:  this  name  (“Land  of  Slaughter”)  is  used  else¬ 
where  of  mythical  places;  cf.  Harbarthsljoth,  24,  and  prose 
introduction  to  Völundark'vitha;  it  may  here  not  be  a  proper 
name  at  all.  Gold-goddess :  poetic  circumlocution  for  “woman.” 

[  443  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


For  the  worst  of  evils  born  in  the  world ; 

To  death  thou  hast  given  Gjuki’s  children, 
And  laid  their  lofty  house  full  low.” 

Brynhild  spake: 

5.  “Truth  from  the  wagon  here  I  tell  thee, 
Witless  one,  if  know  thou  wilt 

How  the  heirs  of  Gjuki  gave  me  to  be 
Joyless  ever,  a  breaker  of  oaths. 

6.  “Hild  the  helmed  in  Hlymdalir 

They  named  me  of  old,  all  they  who  knew  me. 


7.  “The  monarch  bold  the  swan-robes  bore 
Of  the  sisters  eight  beneath  an  oak; 


6.  In  Regius  these  two  lines  stand  after  stanza  7,  but  most 
editions  place  them  as  here.  They  are  not  quoted  in  the  Noma - 
geststhattr.  Presumably  two  lines,  and  perhaps  more,  have  been 
lost.  It  has  frequently  been  argued  that  all  or  part  of  the  passage 
from  stanza  6  through  stanza  10  (6-10,  7-10  or  8-10)  comes 
originally  from  the  so-called  Sigrdrifumol,  where  it  would  un¬ 
doubtedly  fit  exceedingly  well.  Hild :  a  Valkyrie  name  meaning 
“Fighter”  (cf.  Voluspo,  31).  In  such  compound  names  as  Bryn¬ 
hild  (“Fighter  in  Armor”)  the  first  element  was  occasionally 
omitted.  Hlymdalir  (“Tumult-Dale”)  :  a  mythical  name,  merely 
signifying  the  place  of  battle  as  the  home  of  Valkyries. 

7.  Regarding  the  identification  of  swan-maidens  with  Valky¬ 
ries,  and  the  manner  in  which  men  could  get  them  in  their  power 
by  stealing  their  swan-garments,  cf.  Völundarkvitha,  introductory 
prose  and  note,  where  the  same  thing  happens.  The  monarch: 
perhaps  Agnar,  brother  of  Autha,  mentioned  in  Sigrdrifumol 
(prose  and  quoted  verse  following  stanza  4)  as  the  warrior  for 

[  444  ] 


Helreith  Brynhildar 

Twelve  winters  I  was,  if  know  thou  wilt, 

When  oaths  I  yielded  the  king  so  young. 

8.  “Next  I  let  the  leader  of  Goths, 

Hjalmgunnar  the  old,  go  down  to  hell, 

And  victory  brought  to  Autha’s  brother; 

For  this  was  Othin’s  anger  mighty. 

9.  “He  beset  me  with  shields  in  Skatalund, 

Red  and  white,  their  rims  o’erlapped ; 

He  bade  that  my  sleep  should  broken  be 
By  him  who  fear  had  nowhere  found. 

10.  “He  let  round  my  hall,  that  southward  looked, 
The  branches’  foe  high-leaping  burn; 

Across  it  he  bade  the  hero  come 

Who  brought  me  the  gold  that  Fafnir  guarded. 

11.  “On  Grani  rode  the  giver  of  gold, 


whose  sake  Brynhild  defied  Othin  in  slaying  Hjalmgunnar. 
Eight:  the  Nornageststhattr  manuscripts  have  “sisters  of  Atli” 
instead  of  “sisters  eight.” 

8.  Hjalmgunnar:  regarding  this  king  of  the  Goths  (the 
phrase  means  little)  and  his  battle  with  Agnar,  brother  of  Autha, 
cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  prose  after  stanza  4.  One  Nornageststhattr 
manuscript  has  “brother  of  the  giantess”  in  place  of  “leader  of 
Goths.” 

9.  Cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  prose  introduction.  Skatalund  (“War¬ 
riors’  Grove”):  a  mythical  name;  elsewhere  the  place  where 
Brynhild  lay  is  called  Hindarfjoll. 

10.  Branches’  foe:  fire.  Regarding  the  treasure  cf.  Fafnismol. 

11.  This  stanza  is  presumably  an  interpolation,  reflecting  a 
different  version  of  the  story,  wherein  Sigurth  meets  Brynhild  at 
the  home  of  her  brother-in-law  and  foster-father,  Heimir  (cf. 

[  445  ] 


Poetic  Edda 

Where  my  foster-father  ruled  his  folk ; 

Best  of  all  he  seemed  to  be, 

The  prince  of  the  Danes,  when  the  people  met. 

12.  “Happy  we  slept,  one  bed  we  had, 

As  he  my  brother  born  had  been ; 

Eight  were  the  nights  when  neither  there 
Loving  hand  on  the  other  laid. 

13.  “Yet  Guthrun  reproached  me,  Gjuki’s  daughter, 
That  I  in  Sigurth’s  arms  had  slept ; 

Then  did  I  hear  what  I  would  were  hid, 

That  they  had  betrayed  me  in  taking  a  mate. 

14.  “Ever  with  grief  and  all  too  long 

Are  men  and  women  born  in  the  world ; 

But  yet  we  shall  live  our  lives  together, 

Sigurth  and  I.  Sink  down,  Giantess!” 


Gripisspo,  19  and  27).  Gram:  Sigurth’s  horse.  Danes:  nowhere 
else  does  Sigurth  appear  in  this  capacity.  Perhaps  this  is  a 
curious  relic  of  the  Helgi  tradition. 

12.  Eight  nights:  elsewhere  (cf.  Gripisspo,  42)  the  time  is 
stated  as  three  nights,  not  eight.  There  is  a  confusion  of  tradi¬ 
tions  here,  as  in  Gripisspo.  In  the  version  of  the  story  wherein 
Sigurth  met  Brynhild  before  he  encountered  the  Gjukungs, 
Sigurth  was  bound  by  no  oaths,  and  the  union  was  completed ; 
it  is  only  in  the  alternative  version  that  the  episode  of  the 
sword  laid  between  the  two  occurs. 

14.  The  idea  apparently  conveyed  in  the  concluding  lines, 
that  Sigurth  and  Brynhild  will  be  together  in  some  future  life,  is 
utterly  out  of  keeping  with  the  Norse  pagan  traditions,  and  the 
whole  stanza  indicates  the  influence  of  Christianity. 

[  446  ] 


DRAP  NIFLUNGA 

The  Slaying  of  The  Niflungs 

Introductory  Note 

It  has  been  already  pointed  out  (introductory  note  to  Regins- 
mol)  that  the  compiler  of  the  Eddie  collection  had  clearly  under¬ 
taken  to  formulate  a  coherent  narrative  of  the  entire  Sigurth 
cycle,  piecing  together  the  various  poems  by  means  of  prose 
narrative  links.  To  some  extent  these  links  were  based  on  tradi¬ 
tions  existing  outside  of  the  lays  themselves,  but  in  the  main 
the  material  was  gathered  from  the  contents  of  the  poems.  The 
short  prose  passage  entitled  Drap  Niflunga,  which  in  the  Codex 
Regius  immediately  follows  the  Helreith  Brynhildar,  is  just  such 
a  narrative  link,  and  scarcely  deserves  a  special  heading,  but  as 
nearly  all  editions  separate  it  from  the  preceding  and  following 
poems,  I  have  followed  their  example. 

With  Sigurth  and  Brynhild  both  dead,  the  story  turns  to  the 
slaying  of  the  sons  of  Gjuki  by  Atli,  Guthrun’s  second  husband, 
and  to  a  few  subsequent  incidents,  mostly  late  incorporations 
from  other  narrative  cycles,  including  the  tragic  death  of  Svan- 
hild,  daughter  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun  and  wife  of  Jormunrek 
(Ermanarich),  and  the  exploits  of  Hamther,  son  of  Guthrun 
and  her  third  husband,  Jonak.  These  stories  are  told,  or  outlined, 
in  the  two  Atli  lays,  the  second  and  third  Guthrun  lays,  the 
Oddrunargra.tr,  the  Guthrunarhvot,  and  the  Hamthesmol.  Had 
the  compiler  seen  fit  to  put  the  Atli  lays  immediately  after  the 
Helreith  Brynhildar,  he  would  have  needed  only  a  very  brief 
transitional  note  to  make  the  course  of  the  story  clear,  but  as 
the  second  Guthrun  lay,  the  next  poem  in  the  collection,  is  a 
lament  following  the  death  of  Guthrun’s  brothers,  some  sort  of 
a  narrative  bridge  was  manifestly  needed. 

Drap  Niflunga  is  based  entirely  on  the  poems  which  follow 
it  in  the  collection,  with  no  use  of  extraneous  material.  The 
part  of  the  story  which  it  summarizes  belongs  to  the  semi- 
historical  Burgundian  tradition  (cf.  introductory  note  to 
Gripisspo) ,  in  many  respects  parallel  to  the  familiar  narrative 
of  the  Nibelungenlied,  and,  except  in  minor  details,  showing  few 
essentially  Northern  additions.  Sigurth  is  scarcely  mentioned, 
and  the  outstanding  episode  is  the  slaying  of  Gunnar  and 
Hogni,  following  their  journey  to  Atli’s  home. 

[  447  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Gunnar  and  Hogni  then  took  all  the  gold  that  Fafnir 
had  had.  There  was  strife  between  the  Gjukungs  and 
Atli,  for  he  held  the  Gjukungs  guilty  of  Brynhild’s  death. 
It  was  agreed  that  they  should  give  him  Guthrun  as 
wife,  and  they  gave  her  a  draught  of  forgetfulness  to 
drink  before  she  would  consent  to  be  wedded  to  Atli. 
The  sons  of  Atli  were  Erp  and  Eitil,  and  Svanhild  was 
the  daughter  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun.  King  Atli  invited 
Gunnar  and  Hogni  to  come  to  him,  and  sent  as  mes¬ 
senger  Vingi  or  Knefröth.  Guthrun  was  aware  of  treach¬ 
ery,  and  sent  with  him  a  message  in  runes  that  they 
should  not  come,  and  as  a  token  she  sent  to  Hogni  the 
ring  Andvaranaut  and  tied  a  wolf’s  hair  in  it.  Gunnar 
had  sought  Oddrun,  Atli’s  sister,  for  his  wife,  but  had  her 
not;  then  he  married  Glaumvor,  and  Hogni’s  wife  was 

Prose.  Niflungs:  regarding  the  mistaken  application  of  this 
name  to  the  sons  of  Gjuki,  who  were  Burgundians,  cf.  Brot,  17 
and  note.  Draught  of  forgetfulness :  according  to  the  Volsun- 
gasaga  Grimhild,  Guthrun’s  mother,  administered  this,  just  as 
she  did  the  similar  draught  which  made  Sigurth  forget  Brynhild. 
Erp  and  Eitil:  Guthrun  kills  her  two  sons  by  Atli  as  part  of 
her  revenge;  the  annotator  here  explains  her  act  further  by 
saying  that  Guthrun  asked  her  sons  to  intercede  with  their 
father  in  favor  of  Guthrun’s  brothers,  but  that  they  refused,  a 
detail  which  he  appears  to  have  invented,  as  it  is  found  nowhere 
else.  Svanhild:  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma ,  54  and  note. 
Vingi  or  Knefröth:  Atlakvitha  (stanza  1)  calls  the  messenger 
Knefröth;  Atlamol  (stanza  4)  speaks  of  two  messengers,  but 
names  only  one  of  them,  Vingi.  The  annotator  has  here  tried, 
unsuccessfully,  to  combine  the  two  accounts.  Andvaranaut:  re¬ 
garding  the  origin  of  Andvari’s  ring  cf.  Reginsmol,  prose  after 
stanzas  4  and  5  and  notes;  Sigurth  gave  the  ring  to  Guthrun. 
Here  again  the  annotator  is  combining  two  stories;  in  Atlakvitha 
(stanza  8)  Guthrun  sends  a  ring  (not  Andvaranaut)  with  a 
wolf’s  hair;  in  Atlamol  (stanza  4)  she  sends  a  message  written 

[  448  ] 


Drap  Niflunga 

Kostbera;  their  sons  were  Solar  and  Snævar  and  Gjuki. 
And  when  the  Gjukungs  came  to  Atli,  then  Guthrun  be¬ 
sought  her  sons  to  plead  for  the  lives  of  both  the  Gjukungs, 
but  they  would  not  do  it.  Hogni’s  heart  was  cut  out, 
and  Gunnar  was  cast  into  the  serpent’s  den.  He  smote  on 
the  harp  and  put  the  serpents  to  sleep,  but  an  adder  stung 
him  in  the  liver. 


in  runes.  The  messenger  obscures  these  runes,  and  Kostbera, 
Hogni’s  wife,  who  attempts  to  decipher  them,  is  not  clear  as 
to  their  meaning,  though  she  suspects  danger.  Oddrun:  cf. 
Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  57  and  note.  Glaumvor:  almost 
nothing  is  told  of  Gunnar’s  second  wife,  though  she  appears 
frequently  in  the  Atlamol.  Kostbera  (or  Bera),  Hogni’s  wife, 
is  known  only  as  skilled  in  runes.  Her  brother  was  Orkning. 
The  sons  of  Hogni  and  Kostbera,  according  to  the  Atlamol 
(stanza  28),  were  Solar  and  Snœvar ;  the  third  son,  Gjuki, 
named  after  his  grandfather,  seems  to  be  an  invention  of  the 
annotator’s.  Adder:  according  to  Oddrunargratr  (stanza  30) 
Atli’s  mother  assumed  this  form  in  order  to  complete  her  son’s 
vengeance. 


[  449  ] 


GUTHRUNARKVITHA  II,  EN  FORNA 

The  Second,  or  Old ,  Lay  of  Guthrun 

Introductory  Note 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  (introductory  note  to  Guth- 
runarkvitha  I)  that  the  tradition  of  Guthrun’s  lament  was 
known  wherever  the  Sigurth  story  existed,  and  that  this  lament 
was  probably  one  of  the  earliest  parts  of  the  legend  to  assume 
verse  form.  Whether  it  reached  the  North  as  verse  cannot,  of 
course,  be  determined,  but  it  is  at  least  possible  that  this  was 
the  case,  and  in  any  event  it  is  clear  that  by  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries  there  were  a  number  of  Norse  poems  with 
Guthrun’s  lament  as  the  central  theme.  Two  of  these  are  in¬ 
cluded  in  the  Eddie  collection,  the  second  one  being  unquestion¬ 
ably  much  the  older.  It  is  evidently  the  poem  referred  to  by 
the  annotator  in  the  prose  note  following  the  Brot  as  “the  old 
Guthrun  lay,”  and  its  character  and  state  of  preservation  have 
combined  to  lead  most  commentators  to  date  it  as  early  as  the 
first  half  of  the  tenth  century,  whereas  Guthrunarkvitha  I 
belongs  a  hundred  years  later. 

The  poem  has  evidently  been  preserved  in  rather  bad  shape, 
with  a  number  of  serious  omissions  and  some  interpolations,  but 
in  just  this  form  it  lay  before  the  compilers  of  the  V  olsungasaga, 
who  paraphrased  it  faithfully,  and  quoted  five  of  its  stanzas. 
The  interpolations  are  on  the  whole  unimportant;  the  omissions, 
while  they  obscure  the  sense  of  certain  passages,  do  not  destroy 
the  essential  continuity  of  the  poem,  in  which  Guthrun  reviews 
her  sorrows  from  the  death  of  Sigurth  through  the  slaying  of 
her  brothers  to  Atli’s  dreams  foretelling  the  death  of  their 
sons.  It  is,  indeed,  the  only  Norse  poem  of  the  Sigurth  cycle 
antedating  the  year  1000  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  anything 
approaching  complete  form;  the  Reginsmol,  Fafnismol,  and 
Sigrdrifumol  are  all  collections  of  fragments,  only  a  short  bit 
of  the  “long”  Sigurth  lay  remains,  and  the  others — Gripisspo, 
Guthrunarkvitha  I  and  III,  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  Helreith 
Brynhildar,  Oddrunargratr,  Guthrunarhvot,  Hamthesmol,  and 
the  two  Atli  lays — are  all  generally  dated  from  the  eleventh  and 
even  the  twelfth  centuries. 

An  added  reason  for  believing  that  Guthrunarkv'itha  II 
traces  its  origin  back  to  a  lament  which  reached  the  North 

[  450  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


from  Germany  in  verse  form  is  the  absence  of  most  of  the 
characteristic  Norse  additions  to  the  narrative,  except  in  minor 
details.  Sigurth  is  slain  in  the  forest,  as  “German  men  say”  (cf. 
Brot,  concluding  prose)  ;  the  urging  of  Guthrun  by  her  mother 
and  brothers  to  become  Atli’s  wife,  the  slaying  of  the  Gjukungs 
(here  only  intimated,  for  at  that  point  something  seems  to  have 
been  lost),  and  Guthrun’s  prospective  revenge  on  Atli,  all 
belong  directly  to  the  German  tradition  (cf.  introductory  note 
to  Gripisspo) . 

In  the  Codex  Regius  the  poem  is  entitled  simply  Guthrunar¬ 
kvitha;  the  numeral  has  been  added  in  nearly  all  editions  to 
distinguish  this  poem  from  the  other  two  Guthrun  lays,  and 
the  phrase  “the  old”  is  borrowed  from  the  annotator’s  com¬ 
ment  in  the  prose  note  at  the  end  of  the  Brot. 


King  Thjothrek  was  with  Atli,  and  had  lost  most  of 
his  men.  Thjothrek  and  Guthrun  lamented  their  griefs 
together.  She  spoke  to  him,  saying: 

i.  A  maid  of  maids  my  mother  bore  me, 

Bright  in  my  bower,  my  brothers  I  loved, 

Till  Gjuki  dowered  me  with  gold, 

Dowered  with  gold,  and  to  Sigurth  gave  me. 


Prose.  Thjothrek:  the  famous  Theoderich,  king  of  the  Ostro¬ 
goths,  who  became  renowned  in  German  story  as  Dietrich  von 
Bern.  The  German  tradition  early  accepted  the  anachronism 
of  bringing  together  Attila  (Etzel,  Atli),  who  died  in  453,  and 
Theoderich,  who  was  born  about  455,  and  adding  thereto 
Ermanarich  (Jormunrek),  king  of  the  Goths,  who  died  about 
376.  Ermanarich,  in  German  tradition,  replaced  Theoderich’s 
actual  enemy,  Odovakar,  and  it  was  in  battle  with  Jormunrek 
(i.  e.,  Odovakar)  that  Thjothrek  is  here  said  to  have  lost  most 
of  his  men.  The  annotator  found  the  material  for  this  note  in 
Guthrunarkvitha  III,  in  which  Guthrun  is  accused  of  having 
Thjothrek  as  her  lover.  At  the  time  when  Guthrunarkvitha  II 

[451] 


Poetic  Edda 


2.  So  Sigurth  rose  o’er  Gjuki’s  sons 

As  the  leek  grows  green  above  the  grass, 
Or  the  stag  o’er  all  the  beasts  doth  stand, 
Or  as  glow-red  gold  above  silver  gray. 


3.  Till  my  brothers  let  me  no  longer  have 
The  best  of  heroes  my  husband  to  be; 

Sleep  they  could  not,  or  quarrels  settle, 

Till  Sigurth  they  at  last  had  slain. 

4.  From  the  Thing  ran  Grani  with  thundering  feet, 
But  thence  did  Sigurth  himself  come  never; 
Covered  with  sweat  was  the  saddle-bearer, 

Wont  the  warrior’s  weight  to  bear. 


5.  Weeping  I  sought 
With  tear-wet  cheeks 
The  head  of  Grani 
The  steed  knew  well 


with  Grani  to  speak, 
for  the  tale  I  asked; 
was  bowed  to  the  grass, 
his  master  was  slain. 


6.  Long  I  waited  and  pondered  well 
Ere  ever  the  king  for  tidings  I  asked. 


was  composed  (early  tenth  century)  it  is  probable  that  the 
story  of  Theoderich  had  not  reached  the  North  at  all,  and  the 
annotator  is  consequently  wrong  in  giving  the  poem  its  setting. 

2.  Cf.  Guthru?iark<vitha  I,  17. 

4.  Regarding  the  varying  accounts  of  the  manner  of  Sigurth’s 
death  cf.  Brot,  concluding  prose  and  note.  Grani:  cf.  Brot,  7. 

6.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  Some  editions  com¬ 
bine  these  two  lines  with  either  stanza  5  or  stanza  7. 

[  452  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


7-  H  is  head  bowed  Gunnar,  but  Hogni  told 
The  news  full  sore  of  Sigurth  slain : 

“Hewed  to  death  at  our  hands  he  lies, 
Gotthorm’s  slayer,  given  to  wolves. 

8.  “On  the  southern  road  thou  shalt  Sigurth  see, 
Where  hear  thou  canst  the  ravens  cry; 

The  eagles  cry  as  food  they  crave, 

And  about  thy  husband  wolves  are  howling.” 

9.  “Why  dost  thou,  Hogni,  such  a  horror 
Let  me  hear,  all  joyless  left? 

Ravens  yet  thy  heart  shall  rend 

In  a  land  that  never  thou  hast  known.” 

10.  Few  the  words  of  Hogni  were, 

Bitter  his  heart  from  heavy  sorrow: 

“Greater,  Guthrun,  thy  grief  shall  be 
If  the  ravens  so  my  heart  shall  rend.” 

11.  From  him  who  spake  I  turned  me  soon, 

In  the  woods  to  find  what  the  wolves  had  left; 
Tears  I  had  not,  nor  wrung  my  hands, 


7.  Gotthorm:  from  this  it  appears  that  in  both  versions  of 
the  death  of  Sigurth  the  mortally  wounded  hero  killed  his 
murderer,  the  younger  brother  of  Gunnar  and  Hogni.  The  story 
of  how  Gotthorm  was  slain  after  killing  Sigurth  in  his  bed  is 
told  in  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  22-23,  and  in  the  Volsung- 
asaga. 

11.  On  lines  3-4  cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  1.  Line  5  is  probably 
spurious. 


[  453  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Nor  wailing  went,  as  other  women, 
(When  by  Sigurth  slain  I  sat). 

12.  Never  so  black  had  seemed  the  night 
As  when  in  sorrow  by  Sigurth  I  sat; 
The  wolves  ....  . 


13 . 

Best  of  all  methought  ’twould  be 
If  I  my  life  could  only  lose, 

Or  like  to  birch-wood  burned  might  be. 

14.  From  the  mountain  forth  five  days  I  fared, 
Till  Hoalf’s  hall  so  high  I  saw; 


12.  Many  editions  make  one  stanza  of  stanzas  12  and  13, 
reconstructing  line  3  ;  the  manuscript  shows  no  gap.  Bugge  fills 
out  the  stanza  thus:  “The  wolves  were  howling  on  all  the 
ways,  /  The  eagles  cried  as  their  food  they  craved.” 

13.  Cf.  note  on  preceding  stanza.  Grundtvig  suggests  as  a 
first  line:  “Long  did  I  bide,  my  brothers  awaiting.”  Many 
editors  reject  line  4. 

14.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  stanza,  and 
many  editions  combine  lines  3-4  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  15. 
Hoalf  (or  Half)  :  Gering  thinks  this  Danish  king  may  be 
identical  with  Alf,  son  of  King  Hjalprek,  and  second  husband 
of  Hjordis,  Sigurth’s  mother  (cf.  Fra  Dantha  Sinfjotla  and 
note),  but  the  name  was  a  common  one.  Thor  a  and  Hokon  have 
not  been  identified  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  concluding  prose, 
which  is  clearly  based  on  this  stanza).  A  Thora  appears  in 
Hyndluljoth,  18,  as  the  wife  of  Dag,  one  of  the  sons  of  Half  dan 
the  Old,  the  most  famous  of  Denmark’s  mythical  kings,  and 
one  of  her  sons  is  Alf  (Hoalf?). 

[  454  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


Seven  half-years  with  Thora  I  stayed, 
Hokon’s  daughter,  in  Denmark  then. 


15.  With  gold  she  broidered,  to  bring  me  joy, 
Southern  halls  and  Danish  swans; 

On  the  tapestry  wove  we  warrior’s  deeds, 

And  the  hero’s  thanes  on  our  handiwork; 
(Flashing  shields  and  fighters  armed, 
Sword-throng,  helm-throng,  the  host  of  the 
king). 

16.  Sigmund’s  ship  by  the  land  was  sailing, 

Golden  the  figure-head,  gay  the  beaks; 

On  board  we  wove  the  warriors  faring, 

Sigar  and  Siggeir,  south  to  Fjon. 


17- 


Then  Grimhild  asked,  the  Gothic  queen, 
Whether  willingly  would  I . 


15.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza.  Some  editors  combine  lines  5-6  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza 
16,  while  others  mark  them  as  interpolated. 

16.  Some  editions  combine  lines  3-4  with  stanza  17.  Sigmund: 
Sigurth’s  father,  who  here  appears  as  a  sea-rover  in  Guthrun’s 
tapestry.  Sigar :  named  in  Fornaldar  sögur  II,  10,  as  the  father 
of  Siggeir,  the  latter  being  the  husband  of  Sigmund’s  twin 
sister,  Signy  (cf.  Fra  Dautha  Sinfjotla).  Fjon :  this  name, 
referring  to  the  Danish  island  of  Fiinen,  is  taken  from  the 
V olsungasaga  paraphrase  as  better  fitting  the  Danish  setting  of 
the  stanza  than  the  name  in  Regius,  which  is  “Fife”  (Scotland). 

17.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  and  most  editions 
combine  these  two  lines  either  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza  16,  with 
lines  1-2  of  stanza  18,  or  with  the  whole  of  stanza  18.  Line  2 

[  455  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


1 8.  Her  needlework  cast  she  aside,  and  called 
Her  sons  to  ask,  with  stern  resolve, 

Who  amends  to  their  sister  would  make  for  her 
son, 

Or  the  wife  requite  for  her  husband  killed. 


[9.  Ready  was  Gunnar 
Amends  for  my  hurt, 
Then  would  she  know 
The  horse  to  saddle, 
(The  horse  to  ride, 
And  shafts  from  bows 


gold  to  give, 
and  Hogni  too; 

who  now  would  go, 
the  wagon  to  harness, 
the  hawk  to  fly, 
of  yew  to  shoot). 


20.  (Valdar,  king  of  the  Danes,  was  come, 
With  Jarizleif,  Eymoth,  and  Jarizskar). 


has  been  filled  out  in  various  ways.  The  V olsungasaga  para¬ 
phrase  indicates  that  these  two  lines  are  the  remains  of  a  full 
stanza,  the  prose  passage  running:  “Now  Guthrun  was  some¬ 
what  comforted  of  her  sorrows.  Then  Grimhild  learned  where 
Guthrun  was  now  dwelling.”  The  first  two  lines  may  be  the 
ones  missing.  Gothic:  the  term  “Goth”  was  used  in  the  North 
without  much  discrimination  to  apply  to  all  south-Germanic 
peoples.  In  Gripisspo,  35,  Gunnar,  Grimhild’s  son,  appears  as 
“lord  of  the  Goths.” 

18.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza.  Grimhild  is  eager  to  have  amends  made  to  Guthrun  for 
the  slaying  of  Sigurth  and  their  son,  Sigmund,  because  Atli  has 
threatened  war  if  he  cannot  have  Guthrun  for  his  wife. 

19.  Lines  5-6  are  almost  certainly  interpolations,  made  by  a 
scribe  with  a  very  vague  understanding  of  the  meaning  of  the 
stanza,  which  refers  simply  to  the  journey  of  the  Gjukungs  to 
bring  their  sister  home  from  Denmark. 

20.  Lines  1-2  are  probably  interpolated,  though  the  V olsung¬ 
asaga  includes  the  names.  Some  one  apparently  attempted  to 

[  456  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


In  like  princes  came  they  all, 

The  long-beard  men,  with  mantles  red, 
Short  their  mail-coats,  mighty  their  helms, 
Swords  at  their  belts,  and  brown  their  hair. 

21.  Each  to  give  me  gifts  was  fain, 

Gifts  to  give,  and  goodly  speech, 

Comfort  so  for  my  sorrows  great 

To  bring  they  tried,  but  I  trusted  them  not. 

22.  A  draught  did  Grimhild  give  me  to  drink, 
Bitter  and  cold;  I  forgot  my  cares; 


supply  the  names  of  Atli’s  messengers,  the  “long-beard  men” 
of  line  4,  who  have  come  to  ask  for  Guthrun’s  hand.  Some 
commentators  assume,  as  the  V olsungasaga  does,  that  these  mes¬ 
sengers  went  with  the  Gjukungs  to  Denmark  in  search  of 
Guthrun,  but  it  seems  more  likely  that  a  transitional  stanza  has 
dropped  out  after  stanza  19,  and  that  Guthrun  received  Atli’s 
emissaries  in  her  brothers’  home.  Long-beards :  the  word  may 
actually  mean  Langobards  or  Lombards,  but,  if  it  does,  it  is 
presumably  without  any  specific  significance  here.  Certainly  the 
names  in  the  interpolated  two  lines  do  not  fit  either  Lombards 
or  Huns,  for  Valdar  is  identified  as  a  Dane,  and  Jarizleif  and 
Jarizskar  are  apparently  Slavic.  The  manuscript  indicates  line 
5  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 

21.  Each:  the  reference  is  presumably  to  Gunnar  and  Hogni, 
and  perhaps  also  Grimhild.  I  suspect  that  this  stanza  belongs 
before  stanza  20. 

22.  Stanzas  22-25  describe  the  draught  of  forgetfulness  which 
Grimhild  gives  Guthrun,  just  as  she  gave  one  to  Sigurth  (in 
one  version  of  the  story)  to  make  him  forget  Brynhild.  The 
draught  does  not  seem  to  work  despite  Guthrun’s  statement  in 
stanza  25  (cf.  stanza  30),  for  which  reason  Vigfusson,  not 
unwisely,  places  stanzas  22-25  after  stanza  34.  Blood  of  swine: 
cf.  Hyndluljoth ,  39  and  note. 


[  457  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


For  mingled  therein  was  magic  earth, 

Ice-cold  sea,  and  the  blood  of  swine. 

23.  In  the  cup  were  runes  of  every  kind, 

Written  and  reddened,  I  could  not  read  them; 

A  heather-fish  from  the  Haddings’  land, 

An  ear  uncut,  and  the  entrails  of  beasts. 

24.  Much  evil  was  brewed  within  the  beer, 

Blossoms  of  trees,  and  acorns  burned, 

Dew  of  the  hearth,  and  holy  entrails, 

The  liver  of  swine, —  all  grief  to  allay. 

25.  Then  I  forgot,  when  the  draught  they  gave  me, 
There  in  the  hall,  my  husband’s  slaying; 

On  their  knees  the  kings  all  three  did  kneel, 

Ere  she  herself  to  speak  began: 


23.  The  Volsungasaga  quotes  stanzas  23-24.  Heather-fish:  a 
snake.  Haddings’  land:  the  world  of  the  dead,  so  called  because, 
according  to  Saxo  Grammaticus,  the  Danish  king  Hadingus  once 
visited  it.  It  is  possible  that  the  comma  should  follow  “heather- 
fish,”  making  the  “ear  uncut”  (of  grain)  come  from  the  world 
of  the  dead. 

24.  Dev:  of  the  hearth:  soot. 

25.  In  the  manuscript,  and  in  some  editions,  the  first  line  is 

in  the  third  person  plural:  “Then  they  forgot,  when  the 
draught  they  had  drunk.”  The  second  line  in  the  original  is 
manifestly  in  bad  shape,  and  has  been  variously  emended.  / 
forgot:  this  emendation  is  doubtful,  in  view  of  stanza  30,  but 
cf.  note  to  stanza  22.  The  kings  all  three:  probably  Atli’s  emis¬ 
saries,  though  the  interpolated  lines  of  stanza  20  name  four 
of  them.  I  suspect  that  line  4  is  wrong,  and  should  read:  “Ere 
he  himself  ( Atli )  to  speak  began.”  Certainly  stanzas  26-27 

[458  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


26.  “Guthrun,  gold  to  thee  I  give, 

The  wealth  that  once  thy  father’s  was, 
Rings  to  have,  and  Hlothver’s  halls, 

And  the  hangings  all  that  the  monarch  had. 

27.  “Hunnish  women,  skilled  in  weaving, 

Who  gold  make  fair  to  give  thee  joy, 

And  the  wealth  of  Buthli  thine  shall  be, 
Gold-decked  one,  as  Atli’s  wife.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

28.  “A  husband  now  I  will  not  have, 

Nor  wife  of  Brynhild’s  brother  be ; 

It  beseems  me  not  with  Buthli’s  son 
Happy  to  be,  and  heirs  to  bear.” 


fit  Atli  much  better  than  they  do  Grimhild,  and  there  is  nothing 
unreasonable  in  Atli’s  having  come  in  person,  along  with  his 
tributary  kings,  to  seek  Guthrun’s  hand.  However,  the  “three 
kings”  may  not  be  Atli’s  followers  at  all,  but  Gunnar,  Hogni, 
and  the  unnamed  third  brother  possibly  referred  to  in  Sigurth- 
arkvitha  en  skamma,  18. 

26.  Thy  father’s:  So  the  manuscript,  in  which  case  the  refer¬ 
ence  is  obviously  to  Gjuki.  But  some  editions  omit  the  “thy,” 
and  if  Atli,  and  not  Grimhild,  is  speaking  (cf.  note  on  stanza 
25),  the  reference  may  be,  as  in  line  3  of  stanza  27,  to  the  wealth 
of  Atli’s  father,  Buthli.  Hlothver:  the  northern  form  of  the 
Frankish  name  Chlodowech  (Ludwig),  but  who  this  Hlothver 
was,  beyond  the  fact  that  he  was  evidently  a  Frankish  king,  is 
uncertain.  If  Atli  is  speaking,  he  is  presumably  a  Frankish 
ruler  whose  land  Atli  and  his  Huns  have  conquered. 

27.  Cf.  note  on  stanza  25  as  to  the  probable  speaker. 

28.  In  stanzas  28-32  the  dialogue,  in  alternate  stanzas,  is 
clearly  between  Guthrun  and  her  mother,  Grimhild,  though  the 
manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers. 

[  459  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Grimhild  spake: 

29.  “Seek  not  on  men  to  avenge  thy  sorrows, 

Though  the  blame  at  first  with  us  hath  been  ; 
Happy  shalt  be  as  if  both  still  lived, 

Sigurth  and  Sigmund,  if  sons  thou  bearest.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

30.  “Grimhild,  I  may  not 
Nor  hold  forth  hopes 
Since  once  the  raven 
Sigurth’s  heart’s-blood 

Grimhild  spake: 

31.  “Noblest  of  birth 
I  have  found  for  thee, 

Him  shalt  thou  have 
Or  husbandless  be 

Guthrun  spake: 

32.  “Seek  not  so  eagerly  me  to  send 
To  be  a  bride  of  yon  baneful  race; 

On  Gunnar  first  his  wrath  shall  fall, 

And  the  heart  will  he  tear  from  Hogni’s  breast.” 


29.  Sigmund:  son  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun,  killed  at  Bryn- 
hild’s  behest. 

30.  This  stanza  presents  a  strong  argument  for  transposing 
the  description  of  the  draught  of  forgetfulness  (stanzas  22-24 
and  lines  1-2  of  stanza  25)  to  follow  stanza  33.  Raven,  etc.:  the 
original  is  somewhat  obscure,  and  the  line  may  refer  simply  to 
the  “corpse-eating  raven.” 

32.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  is  immediately  followed  by 
the  two  lines  which  here,  following  Bugge’s  suggestion,  appear 

[  460  ] 


is  the  ruler  now 

and  foremost  of  all; 
while  life  thou  hast, 
if  him  thou  wilt  choose  not.” 


gladness  find, 
to  heroes  now, 
and  ravening  wolf 
hungrily  lapped.” 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


33.  Weeping  Grimhild 
That  fate  full  sore 
(And  mighty  woe 
“Lands  I  give  thee, 
(Vinbjorg  is  thine, 
Have  them  forever, 


heard  the  words 
for  her  sons  foretold, 
for  them  should  work;) 
with  all  that  live  there, 
and  Valbjorg  too,) 
but  hear  me,  daughter. 


34.  So  must  I  do  as  the  kings  besought, 

And  against  my  will  for  my  kinsmen  wed ; 

Ne’er  with  my  husband  joy  I  had, 

And  my  sons  by  my  brothers’  fate  were  saved  not. 


35 . 

I  could  not  rest  till  of  life  I  had  robbed 

The  warrior  bold,  the  maker  of  battles. 
36.  Soon  on  horseback  each  hero  was, 


as  stanza  35.  In  lines  3-4  Guthrun  foretells  what  will  (and 
actually  does)  happen  if  she  is  forced  to  become  Atli’s  wife. 
If  stanza  35  really  belongs  here,  it  continues  the  prophesy  to 
the  effect  that  Guthrun  will  have  no  rest  till  she  has  avenged 
her  brothers’  death. 

33.  Very  likely  the  remains  of  two  stanzas;  the  manuscript 
marks  line  4  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  On  the  other  hand, 
lines  3  and  5  may  be  interpolations.  Vinbjorg  and  Valbjorg: 
apparently  imaginary  place-names. 

34.  The  kings :  presumably  Gunnar  and  Hogni.  My  sons: 
regarding  Guthrun’s  slaying  of  her  two  sons  by  Atli,  Erp  and 
Eitil,  cf.  Drap  Niflunga,  note. 

35.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  stanza  32.  The 
loss  of  two  lines,  to  the  effect  that  “Ill  was  that  marriage  for 
my  brothers,  and  ill  for  Atli  himself,”  and  the  transposition  of 
the  remaining  two  lines  to  this  point,  are  indicated  in  a  number 
of  editions.  The  warrior,  etc.:  Atli,  whom  Guthrun  kills. 

[461] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  the  foreign  women  in  wagons  faring; 

A  week  through  lands  so  cold  we  went, 

And  a  second  week  the  waves  we  smote, 

(And  a  third  through  lands  that  water  lacked). 


37.  The  warders  now 
Opened  the  gates, 

*  * 

38.  Atli  woke  me, 

Of  bitterness  full 


on  the  lofty  walls 
and  in  we  rode. 

0  %  %  « 

for  ever  I  seemed 

for  my  brothers’  death. 


Atli  spake: 

39.  “Now  from  sleep  the  Norns  have  waked  me 

With  visions  of  terror, —  to  thee  will  I  tell  them ; 

Methought  thou,  Guthrun,  Gjuki’s  daughter, 
With  poisoned  blade  didst  pierce  my  body.” 


36.  The  stanza  describes  the  journey  to  Atli’s  home,  and 
sundry  unsuccessful  efforts  have  been  made  to  follow  the 
travellers  through  Germany  and  down  the  Danube.  Foreign 
women:  slaves.  Line  5,  which  the  manuscript  marks  as  be¬ 
ginning  a  stanza,  is  probably  spurious. 

37.  After  these  two  lines  there  appears  to  be  a  considerable 
gap,  the  lost  stanzas  giving  Guthrun’s  story  of  the  slaying  of 
her  brothers.  It  is  possible  that  stanzas  3S-45  came  originally 
from  another  poem,  dealing  with  Atli’s  dream,  and  were  here 
substituted  for  the  original  conclusion  of  Guthrun’s  lament. 
Many  editions  combine  stanzas  37  and  38,  or  combine  stanza 
38  (the  manuscript  marks  line  1  as  beginning  a  stanza)  with 
lines  1-2  of  stanza  39. 

39.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
stanza.  The  manuscript  and  most  editions  do  not  indicate  the 
speakers  in  this  and  the  following  stanzas. 

[  462  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  II 


Guthrun  spake : 

40.  “Fire  a  dream  of  steel  shall  follow, 

And  willful  pride  one  of  woman’s  wrath ; 

A  baneful  sore  I  shall  burn  from  thee, 

And  tend  and  heal  thee,  though  hated  thou  art.” 


41. 


Atli  spake: 

“Of  plants  I  dreamed,  in  the  garden  drooping, 
That  fain  would  I  have  full  high  to  grow ; 
Plucked  by  the  roots,  and  red  with  blood, 
They  brought  them  hither,  and  bade  me  eat. 


42.  “I  dreamed  my  hawks  from  my  hand  had  flown, 
Eager  for  food,  to  an  evil  house; 

I  dreamed  their  hearts  with  honey  I  ate, 

Soaked  in  blood,  and  heavy  my  sorrow. 


43.  “Hounds  I  dreamed  from  my  hand  I  loosed, 
Loud  in  hunger  and  pain  they  howled; 
Their  flesh  methought  was  eagles’  food, 

And  their  bodies  now  I  needs  must  eat.” 


Guthrun  spake: 

44.  “Men  shall  soon  of  sacrifice  speak, 


40.  Guthrun,  somewhat  obscurely,  interprets  Atli’s  first  dream 
(stanza  39)  to  mean  that  she  will  cure  him  of  an  abscess  by 
cauterizing  it.  Her  interpretation  is,  of  course,  intended  merely 
to  blind  him  to  her  purpose. 

41.  In  stanzas  41-43  Atli’s  dreams  forecast  the  death  of  his 
two  sons,  whose  flesh  Guthrun  gives  him  to  eat  (cf.  Atlakvitha, 
39,  and  Atlamol,  78). 

44.  This  stanza  is  evidently  Guthrun’s  intentionally  cryptic 

[  463  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


And  off  the  heads  of  beasts  shall  hew; 
Die  they  shall  ere  day  has  dawned, 


A  few  nights  hence, 
them.” 

Atli  spake: 

45.  “On  my  bed  I  sank, 
Weary  with  woe, — 


and  the  folk  shall  have 


nor  slumber  sought, 
full  well  I  remember.” 


interpretation  of  Atli’s  dreams,  but  the  meaning  of  the  original 
is  more  than  doubtful.  The  word  here  rendered  “sacrifice”  may 
mean  “sea-catch,”  and  the  one  rendered  “beasts”  may  mean 
“whales.”  None  of  the  attempted  emendations  have  rendered 
the  stanza  really  intelligible,  but  it  appears  to  mean  that  Atli 
will  soon  make  a  sacrifice  of  beasts  at  night,  and  give  their 
bodies  to  the  people.  Guthrun  of  course  has  in  mind  the  slaying 
of  his  two  sons. 

45.  With  these  two  lines  the  poem  abruptly  ends;  some 
editors  assign  the  speech  to  Atli  (I  think  rightly),  others  to 
Guthrun.  Ettmiiller  combines  the  lines  with  stanza  38.  Whether 
stanzas  38-45  originally  belonged  to  Guthrun’s  lament,  or  were 
interpolated  here  in  place  of  the  lost  conclusion  of  that  poem 
from  another  one  dealing  with  Atli’s  dreams  (cf.  note  on  stanza 
37),  it  is  clear  that  the  end  has  been  lost. 


[  464] 


GUTHRUNARKVITHA  III 

The  Third  Lay  of  Guthrun 

Introductory  Note 

The  short  Guthrunarkvitha  III,  entitled  .n  the  manuscript 
simply  Guthrunarkvitha,  but  so  numbered  in  most  editions  to 
distinguish  it  from  the  first  and  second  Guthrun  lays,  appears 
only  in  the  Codex  Regius.  It  is  neither  quoted  nor  paraphrased 
in  the  V olsungasaga,  the  compilers  of  which  appear  not  to  have 
known  the  story  with  which  it  deals.  The  poem  as  we  have  it 
is  evidently  complete  and  free  from  serious  interpolations.  It 
can  safely  be  dated  from  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century, 
for  the  ordeal  by  boiling  water,  with  which  it  is  chiefly  con¬ 
cerned,  was  first  introduced  into  Norway  by  St.  Olaf,  who  died 
in  1030,  and  the  poem  speaks  of  it  in  stanza  7  as  still  of  foreign 
origin. 

The  material  for  the  poem  evidently  came  from  North  Ger¬ 
many,  but  there  is  little  indication  that  the  poet  was  working 
on  the  basis  of  a  narrative  legend  already  fully  formed.  The 
story  of  the  wife  accused  of  faithlessness  who  proves  her 
innocence  by  the  test  of  boiling  water  had  long  been  current  in 
Germany,  as  elsewhere,  and  had  attached  itself  to  various 
women  of  legendary  fame,  but  not  except  in  this  poem,  so  far 
as  we  can  judge,  to  Guthrun  (Kriemhild).  The  introduction  of 
Thjothrek  (Theoderich,  Dietrich,  Thithrek)  is  another  indica¬ 
tion  of  relative  lateness,  for  the  legends  of  Theoderich  do  not 
appear  to  have  reached  the  North  materially  before  the  year 
1000.  On  the  anachronism  of  bringing  Thjothrek  to  Atli’s  court 
cf.  Guthrunarhvitha  II,  introductory  prose,  note,  in  which  the 
development  of  the  Theoderich  tradition  in  its  relation  to  that 
of  Atli  is  briefly  outlined. 

Guthrunarkvitha  III  is,  then,  little  more  than  a  dramatic 
German  story  made  into  a  narrative  lay  by  a  Norse  poet,  with 
the  names  of  Guthrun,  Atli,  Thjothrek,  and  Herkja  incorporated 
for  the  sake  of  greater  effectiveness.  Its  story  probably  nowhere 
formed  a  part  of  the  living  tradition  of  Sigurth  and  Atli,  but 
the  poem  has  so  little  distinctively  Norse  coloring  that  it  may 
possibly  have  been  based  on  a  story  or  even  a  poem  which  its 
composer  heard  in  Germany  or  from  the  lips  of  a  German 
narrator. 


[465  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Herkja  was  the  name  of  a  serving-woman  of  Atli’s; 
she  had  been  his  concubine.  She  told  Atli  that  she  had 
seen  Thjothrek  and  Guthrun  both  together.  Atli  was 
greatly  angered  thereby.  Then  Guthrun  said: 

1.  “What  thy  sorrow,  Atli,  Buthli’s  son? 

Is  thy  heart  heavy-laden  ?  Why  laughest  thou 
never? 

It  would  better  befit  the  warrior  far 
To  speak  with  men,  and  me  to  look  on.” 

Atli  spake: 

2.  “It  troubles  me,  Guthrun,  Gjuki’s  daughter, 
What  Herkja  here  in  the  hall  hath  told  me, 
That  thou  in  the  bed  with  Thjothrek  best, 
Beneath  the  linen  in  lovers’  guise.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

3.  “This  shall  I  with  oaths  now  swear, 

Swear  by  the  sacred  stone  so  white, 

That  nought  was  there  with  Thjothmar’s  son 
That  man  or  woman  may  not  know. 


Prose.  The  annotator  derived  all  the  material  for  this  note 
from  the  poem  itself,  except  for  the  reference  to  Herkja  as 
Atli’s  former  concubine.  Herkja:  the  historical  Kreka  and  the 
Helche  of  the  Nibelungenlied,  who  there  appears  as  Etzel’s 
(Attila’s)  first  wife.  Thjothrek:  cf.  Introductory  Note. 

2.  The  manuscript  omits  the  names  of  the  speakers  through¬ 
out. 

3.  Holy  stone:  just  what  this  refers  to  is  uncertain;  it  may 
be  identical  with  the  “ice-cold  stone  of  Uth”  mentioned  in  an 
oath  in  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II,  29.  T hjothmar’ s  son:  the 
manuscript  has  simply  “Thjothmar.”  Some  editions  change  it  as 

[  466  ] 


Guthrunarkvitha  III 


4.  “Nor  ever  once  did  my  arms  embrace 
The  hero  brave,  the  leader  of  hosts; 

In  another  manner  our  meeting  was, 

When  our  sorrows  we  in  secret  told. 

5.  “With  thirty  warriors  Thjothrek  came, 

Nor  of  all  his  men  doth  one  remain; 

Thou  hast  murdered  my  brothers  and  mail-clad 
men, 

Thou  hast  murdered  all  the  men  of  my  race. 

6.  “Gunnar  comes  not,  Hogni  I  greet  not, 

No  longer  I  see  my  brothers  loved; 

My  sorrow  would  Hogni  avenge  with  the  sword, 
Now  myself  for  my  woes  I  shall  payment  win. 

7.  “Summon  Saxi,  the  southrons’  king, 

For  he  the  boiling  kettle  can  hallow.” 


here,  some  assume  that  Thjothmar  is  another  name  or  an  error 
for  Thjothrek,  and  Finnur  Jonsson  not  only  retains  Thjothmar 
here  but  changes  Thjothrek  to  Thjothmar  in  stanza  5  to  conform 
to  it. 

5.  Regarding  the  death  of  Thjothrek’s  men  cf.  Guthrunar¬ 
kvitha  II,  introductory  prose,  note.  It  was  on  these  stanzas  of 
Guthrunarkvitha  III  that  the  annotator  based  his  introduction 
to  Guthrunarkvitha  II.  The  manuscript  repeats  the  “thirty”  in 
line  2 ,  in  defiance  of  metrical  requirements. 

6.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  stanza  7;  many 
editions  have  made  the  transposition. 

7.  Who  Saxi  may  be  is  not  clear,  but  the  stanza  clearly  points 
to  the  time  when  the  ordeal  by  boiling  water  was  still  regarded 
as  a  foreign  institution,  and  when  a  southern  king  (i.  e.,  a 
Christian  from  some  earlier-converted  region)  was  necessary 

[  467  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Seven  hundred  there  were  in  the  hall, 

Ere  the  queen  her  hand  in  the  kettle  thrust. 

8.  To  the  bottom  she  reached  with  hand  so  bright, 
And  forth  she  brought  the  flashing  stones: 
“Behold,  ye  warriors,  well  am  I  cleared 

Of  sin  by  the  kettle’s  sacred  boiling.” 

9.  Then  Atli’s  heart  in  happiness  laughed, 

When  Guthrun’s  hand  unhurt  he  saw; 

“Now  Herkja  shall  come  the  kettle  to  try, 

She  who  grief  for  Guthrun  planned.” 

10.  Ne’er  saw  man  sight  more  sad  than  this, 

How  burned  were  the  hands  of  Herkja  then; 

In  a  bog  so  foul  the  maid  they  flung, 

And  so  was  Guthrun’s  grief  requited. 


to  consecrate  the  kettle  used  in  the  test.  The  ordeal  by  boiling 
water  followed  closely  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  which 
took  place  around  the  year  1000.  Some  editions  make  two  stanzas 
out  of  stanza  7,  and  Miillenhoff  contends  that  lines  1-2  do  not 
constitute  part  of  Guthrun’s  speech. 

10.  The  word  “requited”  in  line  4  is  omitted  in  the  manu¬ 
script,  but  it  is  clear  that  some  such  word  was  intended.  The 
punishment  of  casting  a  culprit  into  a  bog  to  be  drowned  was 
particularly  reserved  for  women,  and  is  not  infrequently  men¬ 
tioned  in  the  sagas. 


[  468  ] 


ODDRUNARGRATR 

The  Lament  of  Oddrun 

Introductory  Note 

The  Oddrunargratr  follows  Guthrunarkvitha  III  in  the 
Codex  Regius;  it  is  not  quoted  or  mentioned  elsewhere,  except 
that  the  composer  of  the  “short”  Sigurth  lay  seems  to  have  been 
familiar  with  it.  The  V olsungasaga  says  nothing  of  the  story 
on  which  it  is  based,  and  mentions  Oddrun  only  once,  in  the 
course  of  its  paraphrase  of  Brynhild’s  prophecy  from  the  “short” 
Sigurth  lay.  That  the  poem  comes  from  the  eleventh  century  is 
generally  agreed;  prior  to  the  year  1000  there  is  no  trace  of 
the  figure  of  Oddrun,  Atli’s  sister,  and  yet  the  Oddrunargratr 
is  almost  certainly  older  than  the  “short”  Sigurth  lay,  so  that 
the  last  half  of  the  eleventh  century  seems  to  be  a  fairly  safe 
guess. 

Where  or  how  the  figure  of  Oddrun  entered  the  Sigurth-Atli 
cycle  is  uncertain.  She  does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  extant 
German  versions,  and  ú  is  generally  assumed  that  she  was  a 
creation  of  the  North,  though  the  poet  refers  to  “old  tales” 
concerning  her.  She  does  not  directly  affect  the  course  of  the 
story  at  all,  though  the  poet  has  used  effectively  the  episode  of 
Gunnar’s  death,  with  the  implication  that  Atli’s  vengeance  on 
Gunnar  and  Hogni  was  due,  at  least  in  part,  to  his  discovery 
of  Gunnar’s  love  affair  with  Oddrun.  The  material  which  forms 
the  background  of  Oddrun’s  story  belongs  wholly  to  the  German 
part  of  the  legend  (cf.  introductory  note  to  Gripisspo) ,  and  is 
paralleled  with  considerable  closeness  in  the  Nihelungenlied ; 
only  Oddrun  herself  and  the  subsidiary  figures  of  Borgny  and 
Vilmund  are  Northern  additions.  The  geography,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  so  utterly  chaotic  as  to  indicate  that  the  original  locali¬ 
zation  of  the  Atli  story  had  lost  all  trace  of  significance  by  the 
time  this  poem  was  composed. 

In  the  manuscript  the  poem,  or  rather  the  brief  introductory 
prose  note,  bears  the  heading  “Of  Borgny  and  Oddrun,”  but 
nearly  all  editions,  following  late  paper  manuscripts,  have 
given  the  poem  the  title  it  bears  here.  Outside  of  a  few  appar¬ 
ently  defective  stanzas,  and  some  confusing  transpositions,  the 
poem  has  clearly  been  preserved  in  good  condition,  and  the 
beginning  and  end  are  definitely  marked. 

[  469  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Heithrek  was  the  name  of  a  king,  whose  daughter  was 
called  Borgny.  Vilmund  was  the  name  of  the  man  who 
was  her  lover.  She  could  not  give  birth  to  a  child  until 
Oddrun,  Atli’s  sister,  had  come  to  her;  Oddrun  had  been 
beloved  of  Gunnar,  son  of  Gjuki.  About  this  story  is  the 
following  poem. 


i.  I  have  heard  it  told  in  olden  tales 
How  a  maiden  came  to  Morningland; 
No  one  of  all  on  earth  above 
To  Heithrek’s  daughter  help  could  give. 


2.  This  Oddrun  learned, 
That  sore  the  maiden’s 
The  bit-bearer  forth 
And  the  saddle  laid 


the  sister  of  Atli, 
sickness  was; 

from  his  stall  she  brought, 
on  the  steed  so  black. 


3.  She  let  the  horse  go  o’er  the  level  ground, 
Till  she  reached  the  hall  that  loftily  rose, 


Prose.  Nothing  further  is  known  of  Heithrek,  Borgny  or 
Vilmund.  The  annotator  has  added  the  name  of  Borgny’s  father, 
but  otherwise  his  material  comes  from  the  poem  itself.  Oddrun, 
sister  of  Atli  and  Brynhild,  here  appears  as  proficient  in  birth- 
runes  (cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  8).  Regarding  her  love  for  Gunnar, 
Guthrun’s  brother,  and  husband  of  her  sister,  Brynhild,  cf. 
Sigurthark'vitha  en  skamma,  57  and  note. 

1.  Olden  tales:  this  may  be  merely  a  stock  phrase,  or  it  may 
really  mean  that  the  poet  found  his  story  in  oral  prose  tradition. 
Morningland:  the  poem’s  geography  is  utterly  obscure.  “Morn¬ 
ingland”  is  apparently  identical  with  “Hunland”  (stanza  4), 
and  yet  Oddrun  is  herself  sister  of  the  king  of  the  Huns.  Vig- 
fusson  tries  to  make  “Mornaland”  into  “Morva  land”  and  explain 
it  as  Moravia.  Probably  it  means  little  more  than  a  country  lying 
vaguely  in  the  East.  With  stanza  28  the  confusion  grows  worse. 

r  470  1 


Oddrunargratr 

(And  in  she  went  from  the  end  of  the  hall;) 
From  the  weary  steed  the  saddle  she  took; 
Hear  now  the  speech  that  first  she  spake : 

4.  “What  news  on  earth,  . 

Or  what  has  happened  in  Hunland  now?” 

A  serving-maid  spake: 

“Here  Borgny  lies  in  bitter  pain, 

Thy  friend,  and,  Oddrun,  thy  help  would  find.” 

Oddrun  spake: 

5.  “Who  worked  this  woe  for  the  woman  thus, 

Or  why  so  sudden  is  Borgny  sick?” 

The  serving-maid  spake: 

“Vilmund  is  he,  the  heroes’  friend, 

Who  wrapped  the  woman  in  bedclothes  warm, 
(For  winters  five,  yet  her  father  knew  not).” 

6.  Then  no  more  they  spake,  methinks; 

She  went  at  the  knees  of  the  woman  to  sit; 

3.  Line  3  (cf.  Völundarkvitha,  17)  or  line  5  (cf.  Thryms- 
kvitha,  2),  both  quoted  from  older  poems,  is  probably  spurious; 
the  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza. 

4.  Line  1  in  the  original  appears  to  have  lost  its  second 
half.  In  line  2  the  word  rendered  “has  happened”  is  doubtful. 
The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker  of  lines  3-4,  and 
a  few  editors  assign  them  to  Borgny  herself. 

5.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers.  For  the 
'woman:  conjectural;  the  manuscript  has  instead:  “What  warrior 
now  hath  worked  this  woe?”  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3 
as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  Line  5,  apparently  modeled  on  line 
4  of  stanza  13,  is  probably  spurious. 

[471] 


Poetic  Edda 


With  magic  Oddrun  and  mightily  Oddrun 
Chanted  for  Borgny  potent  charms. 


7.  At  last  were  born  a  boy  and  girl, 

Son  and  daughter  of  Hogni’s  slayer; 
Then  speech  the  woman  so  weak  began, 
Nor  said  she  aught  ere  this  she  spake: 


8.  “So  may  the  holy  ones  thee  help, 

Frigg  and  Freyja  and  favoring  gods, 

As  thou  hast  saved  me  from  sorrow  now.” 


Oddrun  spake: 

9.  “I  came  not  hither  to  help  thee  thus 
Because  thou  ever  my  aid  didst  earn; 

I  fulfilled  the  oath  that  of  old  I  swore, 

That  aid  to  all  I  should  ever  bring, 

(When  they  shared  the  wealth  the  warriors 
had).” 


6.  Charms:  cf.  Sigrdrifumol,  8. 

7.  Hogni’s  slayer:  obviously  Vilmund,  but  unless  he  was  the 
one  of  Atli’s  followers  who  actually  cut  out  Hogni’s  heart  (cf. 
Drap  Niflunga),  there  is  nothing  else  to  connect  him  with  Hogni’s 
death.  Sijmons  emends  the  line  to  read  “Born  of  the  sister  of 
Hogni’s  slayer.” 

8.  Regarding  Frigg  as  a  goddess  of  healing  cf.  Svipdagsmol, 
52,  note.  Regarding  Freyja  as  the  friend  of  lovers  cf.  Grimnis- 
mol,  14,  note.  A  line  is  very  possibly  missing  from  this  stanza. 

9.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  In  line  2  the 
word  rendered  “earn”  is  omitted  in  the  manuscript,  but  nearly 
all  editions  have  supplied  it.  Line  5  is  clearly  either  interpolated 
or  out  of  place.  It  may  be  all  that  is  left  of  a  stanza  which 
stood  between  stanzas  15  and  16,  or  it  may  belong  in  stanza  12. 

[  472  ] 


Oddrunargratr 

Borgny  spake: 

10.  “Wild  art  thou,  Oddrun,  and  witless  now, 
That  so  in  hatred  to  me  thou  speakest ; 

I  followed  thee  where  thou  didst  fare, 

As  we  had  been  born  of  brothers  twain.” 

Oddrun  spake: 

11.  “I  remember  the  evil  one  eve  thou  spakest, 
When  a  draught  I  gave  to  Gunnar  then ; 
Thou  didst  say  that  never  such  a  deed 

By  maid  was  done  save  by  me  alone.” 

12.  Then  the  sorrowing  woman  sat  her  down 
To  tell  the  grief  of  her  troubles  great. 


10-20.  In  the  manuscript  the  order  is  as  follows:  12;  13;  14; 
15,  3-4;  10;  11 ;  16;  17;  18;  19,  1-2;  15,  1-2;  19,  3-4;  20.  The 
changes  made  here,  following  several  of  the  editions,  are:  (a) 
the  transposition  of  stanzas  10-11,  which  are  clearly  dialogue, 
out  of  the  body  of  the  lament  to  a  position  just  before  it;  (b) 
the  transposition  of  lines  1-2  of  stanza  15  to  their  present  position 
from  the  middle  of  stanza  19. 

10.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker;  cf.  note  on 
stanzas  10-20. 

11.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker;  cf.  note  on 
stanzas  10-20.  The  word  rendered  “evil”  in  line  1  is  a  con¬ 
jectural  addition.  Apparently  Borgny  was  present  at  Atli’s  court 
while  the  love  affair  between  Oddrun  and  Gunnar  was  in 
progress,  and  criticised  Oddrun  for  her  part  in  it.  A  draught, 
etc.:  apparently  in  reference  to  a  secret  meeting  of  the  lovers. 

12.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  stanza  9;  cf.  note 
on  stanzas  10-20.  No  gap  is  indicated,  but  something  has  pre¬ 
sumably  been  lost.  Grundtvig  supplies  as  a  first  line:  “The  maid 
her  evil  days  remembered,”  and  inserts  as  a  second  line 
line  5  of  stanza  9. 


[473] 


Poetic  Edda 


13.  “Happy  I  grew  in  the  hero’s  hall 

As  the  warriors  wished,  and  they  loved  me  well ; 
Glad  I  was  of  my  father’s  gifts, 

For  winters  five,  while  my  father  lived. 

14.  “These  were  the  words  the  weary  king, 

Ere  he  died,  spake  last  of  all: 

He  bade  me  with  red  gold  dowered  to  be, 

And  to  Grimhild’s  son  in  the  South  be  wedded. 

15.  “But  Brynhild  the  helm  he  bade  to  wear, 

A  wish-maid  bright  he  said  she  should  be; 

For  a  nobler  maid  would  never  be  born 

On  earth,  he  said,  if  death  should  spare  her. 

16.  “At  her  weaving  Brynhild  sat  in  her  bower, 
Lands  and  folk  alike  she  had; 


13.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
new  stanza;  many  editions  combine  lines  1-2  with  stanza  12  and 
lines  3-4  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  14.  The  hero:  Buthli,  father 
of  Oddrun,  Atli,  and  Brynhild. 

14.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3,  but  not  line  1,  as  the 
beginning  of  a  new  stanza ;  some  editions  combine  lines  3-4  with 
lines  3-4  of  stanza  15.  Making  Buthli  plan  the  marriage  of 
Oddrun  and  Gunnar  may  be  a  sheer  invention  of  the  poet,  or 
may  point  to  an  otherwise  lost  version  of  the  legend. 

15.  Lines  i-2  have  here  been  transposed  from  the  middle  of 
stanza  19;  cf.  note  on  stanzas  10-20.  Wish-maid:  a  Valkyrie, 
so  called  because  the  Valkyries  fullfilled  Othin’s  wish  in  choosing 
the  slain  heroes  for  Valhall.  The  reference  to  Brynhild  as  a 
Valkyrie  by  no  means  fits  with  the  version  of  the  story  used  in 
stanzas  16-17,  and  the  poet  seems  to  have  attempted  to  combine 
the  two  contradictory  traditions;  cf.  Fafnismol,  note  on  stanza 
44.  In  the  manuscript  stanzas  10-n  follow  line  4  of  stanza  15. 

[  474] 


Oddrunargratr 

The  earth  and  heaven  high  resounded 
When  Fafnir’s  slayer  the  city  saw. 

17.  “Then  battle  was  fought  with  the  foreign  swords, 
And  the  city  was  broken  that  Brynhild  had; 

Not  long  thereafter,  but  all  too  soon, 

Their  evil  wiles  full  well  she  knew. 

18.  “Woeful  for  this  her  vengeance  was, 

As  so  we  learned  to  our  sorrow  all; 

In  every  land  shall  all  men  hear 

How  herself  at  Sigurth’s  side  she  slew. 


19.  “Love  to  Gunnar  then  I  gave, 

To  the  breaker  of  rings,  as  Brynhild  might; 
To  Atli  rings  so  red  they  offered, 

And  mighty  gifts  to  my  brother  would  give. 


16.  In  stanzas  16-17  the  underlying  story  seems  to  be  the 
one  used  in  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma  (particularly  stanzas 
32-39),  and  referred  to  in  Guthrunarkvitha  I,  24,  wherein 
Gunnar  and  Sigurth  lay  siege  to  Atli’s  city  (it  here  appears  as 
Brynhild’s)  and  are  bought  off  only  by  Atli’s  giving  Brynhild 
to  Gunnar  as  wife,  winning  her  consent  thereto  by  falsely  repre¬ 
senting  to  her  that  Gunnar  is  Sigurth.  This  version  is,  of  course, 
utterly  at  variance  with  the  one  in  which  Sigurth  wins  Brynhild 
for  Gunnar  by  riding  through  the  ring  of  flames,  and  is  probably 
more  closely  akin  to  the  early  German  traditions.  In  the  Nibelun- 
genlied  Brynhild  appears  as  a  queen  ruling  over  lands  and 
peoples.  Fafnir’s  slayer :  Sigurth. 

17.  Cf.  note  on  preceding  stanza. 

18.  Cf.  Sigurtharkwitha  en  skamma,  stanzas  64-70. 

19.  In  the  manuscript  lines  1-2  of  stanza  15  follow  line  2, 
resulting  in  various  conjectural  combinations.  The  manuscript 
marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  Rings,  etc.:  possibly,  as 

[  475  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


20.  “Fifteen  dwellings  fain  would  he  give 
For  me,  and  the  burden  that  Grani  bore; 

But  Atli  said  he  would  never  receive 
Marriage  gold  from  Gjuki’s  son. 

21.  “Yet  could  we  not  our  love  o’ercome, 

And  my  head  I  laid  on  the  hero’s  shoulder; 
Many  there  were  of  kinsmen  mine 

Who  said  that  together  us  they  had  seen. 

22.  “Atli  said  that  never  I 
Would  evil  plan,  or  ill  deed  do; 

But  none  may  this  of  another  think, 

Or  surely  speak,  when  love  is  shared. 

23.  “Soon  his  men  did  Atli  send, 

In  the  murky  wood  on  me  to  spy; 

Thither  they  came  where  they  should  not  come, 
Where  beneath  one  cover  close  we  lay. 

24.  “To  the  warriors  ruddy  rings  we  offered, 

That  nought  to  Atli  e’er  they  should  say; 


Gering  maintains,  payment  offered  by  Gunnar  and  Hogni  for 
Brynhild’s  death,  but  more  probably,  as  in  stanza  20,  Gunnar’s 
proffered  “marriage  gold”  for  the  hand  of  Oddrun. 

20.  Gram's  burden:  the  treasure  won  by  Sigurth  from  Fafnir; 
cf.  Fafnismol,  concluding  prose.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as 
beginning  a  new  stanza,  as  also  in  stanzas  21  and  22. 

23.  Murky  wood:  the  forest  which  divided  Atli’s  realm  from 
that  of  the  Gjukungs  is  in  Atlakvitha,  3,  called  Myrkwood. 
This  hardly  accords  with  the  extraordinary  geography  of  stanzas 
28-29,  or  with  the  journey  described  in  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  36. 

[  476  ] 


Oddrunargratr 

But  swiftly  home  they  hastened  thence, 
And  eager  all  to  Atli  told. 

25.  “But  close  from  Guthrun  kept  they  hid 
What  first  of  all  she  ought  to  have  known. 


26.  “Great  was  the  clatter  of  gilded  hoofs 
When  Gjuki’s  sons  through  the  gateway  rode; 
The  heart  they  hewed  from  Hogni  then, 

And  the  other  they  cast  in  the  serpents’  cave. 

27.  “The  hero  wise  on  his  harp  then  smote, 

For  help  from  me  in  his  heart  yet  hoped 
The  high-born  king,  might  come  to  him. 


24.  In  the  manuscript  lines  3  and  4  stand  in  reversed  order. 

25.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  some  editors 
assume  the  loss  not  only  of  two  lines,  but  of  an  additional 
stanza.  Evidently  Guthrun  has  already  become  Atli’s  wife. 

26.  If  a  stanza  has  been  lost  after  stanza  25,  it  may  well 
have  told  of  Atli’s  treacherous  invitation  to  the  Gjukungs  to 
visit  him;  cf.  Drap  Niflunga,  which  likewise  tells  of  the  slaying 
of  Hogni  and  Gunnar  ( the  other). 

27.  In  the  manuscript  these  three  lines  follow  line  2  of  stanza 

28.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript.  In  the  V olsungasaga 
Guthrun  gives  her  brother  the  harp,  with  which  he  puts  the 
serpents  to  sleep.  The  episode  is  undoubtedly  related  to  the 
famous  thirtieth  Aventiure  of  the  Nihelungenlied,  in  which 
Volker  plays  the  followers  of  Gunther  to  sleep  before  the  final 
battle. 


[  477  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


28.  “Alone  was  I  gone  to  Geirmund  then, 

The  draught  to  mix  and  ready  to  make ; 

Sudden  I  heard  from  Hlesey  clear 

How  in  sorrow  the  strings  of  the  harp  resounded. 

29.  “I  bade  the  serving-maids  ready  to  be, 

For  I  longed  the  hero’s  life  to  save; 

Across  the  sound  the  boats  we  sailed, 

Till  we  saw  the  whole  of  Atli’s  home. 

30.  “Then  crawling  the  evil  woman  came, 

Atli’s  mother —  may  she  ever  rot! 


28.  In  the  manuscript  the  three  lines  of  stanza  27  follow  line 
2,  and  line  3  is  marked  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  Geirmund: 
nothing  further  is  known  of  him,  but  he  seems  to  be  an  ally 
or  retainer  of  Atli,  or  possibly  his  brother.  Hlesey:  the  poet’s 
geography  is  here  in  very  bad  shape.  Hlesey  is  (or  may  be) 
the  Danish  island  of  Lásö,  in  the  Kattegat  (cf.  Harbarthsljoth, 
37  and  note),  and  thither  he  has  suddenly  transported  not  only 
Gunnar’s  death-place  but  Atli’s  whole  dwelling  (cf.  stanza  29), 
despite  his  previous  references  to  the  ride  to  Hunland  (stanzas 
3-4)  and  the  “murky  wood”  (stanza  23).  Geirmund’s  home, 
where  Oddrun  has  gone,  is  separated  from  Hlesey  and  Atli’s 
dwelling  by  a  sound  (stanza  29).  However,  geographical  accu¬ 
racy  is  seldom  to  be  looked  for  in  heroic  epic  poetry. 

29.  Many  editions  combine  this  stanza  with  lines  3-4  of  stanza 
28.  The  sound:  cf.  note  on  stanza  28. 

30.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 
Atli’s  mother:  the  V olsungasaga  does  not  follow  this  version; 
Gunnar  puts  all  the  serpents  but  one  to  sleep  with  his  harp 
playing,  “but  a  mighty  and  evil  adder  crawled  to  him  and  drove 
his  fangs  into  him  till  they  reached  his  heart,  and  so  he  died.” 
It  is  possible  that  “Atli”  is  a  scribal  error  for  a  word  meaning 
“of  serpents.” 


[  478  ] 


Oddrunargratr 

And  hard  she  bit  to  Gunnar’s  heart, 

So  I  could  not  help  the  hero  brave. 

31.  “Oft  have  I  wondered  how  after  this, 
Serpents’-bed  goddess!  I  still  might  live, 
For  well  I  loved  the  warrior  brave, 

The  giver  of  swords,  as  my  very  self. 

32.  “Thou  didst  see  and  listen,  the  while  I  said 
The  mighty  grief  that  was  mine  and  theirs; 
Each  man  lives  as  his  longing  wills, — 
Oddrun’s  lament  is  ended  now.” 


31.  Serpents’-bed  goddess:  woman  (i.  e.,  Borgny)  ;  “goddess 
of  gold”  was  a  frequent  term  for  a  woman,  and  gold  was  often 
called  the  “serpents’  bed”  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  1 ,  24  and  note). 

32.  Some  editions  make  line  4  a  statement  of  the  poet’s,  and 
not  part  of  Oddrun’s  speech. 


f  479  ] 


ATLAKVITHA  EN  GRÖNLENZKA 

The  Greenland  Lay  of  A  tit 

Introductory  Note 

There  are  two  Atli  poems  in  the  Codex  Regius ,  the  Atlakvitha 
( Lay  of  Atli)  and  the  Atlamol  ( Ballad  of  Atli).  The  poems 
are  not  preserved  or  quoted  in  any  other  old  manuscript,  but 
they  were  extensively  used  by  the  compilers  of  the  Volsung- 
asaga.  In  the  manuscript  superscription  to  each  of  these  poems 
appears  the  word  “Greenland,”  which  has  given  rise  to  a  large 
amount  of  argument.  The  scribe  was  by  no  means  infallible, 
and  in  this  case  his  statement  proves  no  more  than  that  in  the 
period  round  1300  there  was  a  tradition  that  these  two  poems 
originated  in  the  Greenland  settlement. 

The  two  Atli  poems  deal  with  substantially  the  same 
material:  the  visit  of  the  sons  of  Gjuki  to  Atli’s  court,  their 
deaths,  and  the  subsequent  revenge  of  their  sister,  Guthrun, 
Atli’s  wife,  on  her  husband.  The  shorter  of  the  two,  the  Atla¬ 
kvitha,  tells  the  story  with  little  elaboration;  the  Atlamol,  with 
about  the  same  narrative  basis,  adds  many  details,  some  of  them 
apparently  of  the  poet’s  invention,  and  with  a  romantic,  not  to 
say  sentimental,  quality  quite  lacking  in  the  Atlakvitha.  Both 
poems  are  sharply  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  collection 
by  their  metrical  form,  which  is  the  Malahattr  (used  irregularly 
also  in  the  Harbarthsljoth) ,  employed  consistently  and  smoothly 
in  the  Atlamol,  and  with  a  considerable  mixture  of  what  appear 
to  be  Fornyrthislag  lines  (cf.  Introduction)  in  the  Atlakvitha. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  both  poems  belong  to  the  elev¬ 
enth  century,  the  shorter  Atlakvitha  being  generally  dated  from 
the  first  quarter  thereof,  and  the  longer  Atlamol  some  fifty  years 
or  more  later.  In  each  case  the  poet  was  apparently  a  Christian; 
in  the  Atlamol  (stanza  82)  Guthrun  expresses  her  readiness  to 
die  and  “go  into  another  light,”  and  in  the  Atlakvitha  there  is 
frequent  use  of  mythological  names  (e.g.,  Valhall,  H lithskj olf ) 
with  an  evident  lack  of  understanding  of  their  relation  to  the 
older  gods.  These  facts  fit  the  theory  of  a  Greenland  origin  ex¬ 
ceedingly  well,  for  the  Greenland  settlement  grew  rapidly  after 
the  first  explorations  of  Eirik  the  Red,  which  were  in  982-985,  and 
its  most  flourishing  period  was  in  the  eleventh  century.  The 
internal  evidence,  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  Atlamol,  points 

[  480] 


Atlakvitha 


likewise  to  an  origin  remote  from  Iceland,  Norway,  and  the 
“Western  Isles”;  and  the  two  poems  are  sufficiently  alike  so  that, 
despite  the  efforts  of  Finnur  Jonsson  and  others  to  separate  them, 
assigning  one  to  Greenland  and  the  other  to  Norway  or  else¬ 
where,  it  seems  probable  that  the  manuscript  statement  is  correct 
in  both  instances,  and  that  the  two  Atli  poems  did  actually 
originate  in  Greenland.  An  interesting  account  of  this  Greenland 
settlement  is  given  in  William  Hovgaard’s  Voyages  of  the  Norse¬ 
men  to  America,  published  by  the  American-Scandinavian  Foun¬ 
dation  in  1914,  and  an  extraordinarily  vivid  picture  of  the  suf¬ 
ferings  of  the  early  settlers  appears  in  Maurice  Hewlett’s 
Thorgils,  taken  from  the  Floamannasaga. 

From  the  standpoint  of  narrative  material  there  is  little  that 
is  distinctively  Norse  in  either  the  Atlakvitha  or  the  Atlamol. 
The  story  is  the  one  outlined  in  the  prose  Drap  Niflunga  (largely 
based  on  these  two  poems),  representing  almost  exclusively  the 
southern  blending  of  the  Attila  and  Burgundian  legends  (cf. 
introductory  note  to  Gripisspo) .  In  the  Atlakvitha,  indeed,  the 
word  “Burgundians”  is  actually  used.  Brynhild  is  not  mentioned 
in  either  poem;  Sigurth’s  name  appears  but  once,  in  the  Atlamol . 
Thus  the  material  goes  directly  back  to  its  South-Germanic 
origins,  with  little  of  the  Northern  making-over  which  resulted 
in  such  extensive  changes  in  most  parts  of  the  Sigurth  story.  The 
general  atmosphere,  on  the  other  hand,  particularly  in  the 
Atlamol,  is  essentially  Norse. 

As  has  been  said,  the  Atlakvitha  is  metrically  in  a  chaotic 
state,  the  normal  Malahattr  lines  being  frequently  interspersed 
with  lines  and  even  stanzas  which  apparently  are  of  the  older 
Fornyrthislag  type.  How  much  of  this  confusion  is  due  to  faulty 
transmission  is  uncertain,  but  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  com¬ 
poser  of  the  Atlakvitha  made  over  in  Malahattr  an  older  Atli 
poem  in  Fornyrthislag,  and  this  suggestion  has  much  to  recom¬ 
mend  it.  That  he  worked  on  the  basis  of  an  older  poem  is, 
indeed,  almost  certain,  for  in  oral  prose  tradition  a  far  larger 
number  of  distinctively  Norse  traits  would  unquestionably  have 
crept  in  than  are  found  in  the  material  of  the  Atlakvitha.  As  for 
the  Atlamol,  here  again  the  poet  seems  to  have  used  an  older 
poem  as  his  basis,  possibly  the  Atlakvitha  itself,  although  in  that 
case  he  must  have  had  other  material  as  well,  for  there  are 
frequent  divergences  in  such  matters  as  proper  names. 

The  translation  of  the  Atlakvitha  is  rendered  peculiarly  diffi- 

[481] 


Poetic  Edda 


cult  by  the  irregularity  of  the  metre,  by  the  evident  faultiness  of 
the  transmission,  and  above  all  by  the  exceptionally  large  number 
of  words  found  nowhere  else  in  Old  Norse,  involving  much 
guesswork  as  to  their  meanings.  The  notes  do  not  attempt  to 
indicate  all  the  varying  suggestions  made  by  editors  and  com¬ 
mentators  as  to  the  reconstruction  of  defective  stanzas  and  the 
probable  meanings  of  obscure  passages;  in  cases  which  are 
purely  or  largely  guesswork  the  notes  merely  point  out  the  uncer¬ 
tainty  without  cataloguing  the  proposed  solutions. 


Guthrun,  Gjuki’s  daughter,  avenged  her  brothers,  as 
has  become  well  known.  She  slew  first  Atli’s  sons,  and 
thereafter  she  slew  Atli,  and  burned  the  hall  with  his 
whole  company.  Concerning  this  was  the  following 
poem  made: 

i.  Atli  sent  of  old  to  Gunnar 

A  keen-witted  rider,  Knefröth  did  men  call  him  ; 

To  Gjuki’s  home  came  he  and  to  Gunnar’s  dwell¬ 
ing, 

With  benches  round  the  hearth,  and  to  the  beer 
so  sweet. 


Prose.  On  the  marriage  of  Gutkrun  to  Atli  at  the  instigation 
of  her  brothers,  Gunnar  and  Hogni,  and  on  the  slaying  of  Atli 
and  his  two  sons,  Erp  and  Eitil,  cf.  Drap  Niflunga  and  note. 

i.  Line  i  apparently  is  in  Fornyrthislag.  Knefröth  (the  name 
is  spelt  in  various  ways,  and  its  meaning  is  uncertain)  :  in  the 
Atlamol  (stanza  4)  there  are  two  messengers,  one  named  Vingi 
and  the  other  unnamed ;  the  annotator  combines  the  two  versions 
in  the  Drap  Niflunga.  Benches,  etc.:  the  adjective  rendered 
“round  the  hearth,”  which  etymologically  it  ought  to  mean,  is 
made  obscure  by  its  application  to  “helmets”  in  stanzas  3  and  17. 

[482] 


Atlakvitha 

2.  Then  the  followers,  hiding  their  falseness,  all 

drank 

Their  wine  in  the  war-hall,  of  the  Huns’  wrath 
wary ; 

And  Knefröth  spake  loudly,  his  words  were 
crafty, 

The  hero  from  the  south,  on  the  high  bench  sit¬ 
ting: 

3.  “Now  Atli  has  sent  me  his  errand  to  ride, 

On  my  bit-champing  steed  through  Myrkwood 
the  secret, 

To  bid  you,  Gunnar,  to  his  benches  to  come, 

With  helms  round  the  hearth,  and  Atli’s  home 
seek. 

4.  “Shields  shall  ye  choose  there,  and  shafts  made 

of  ash-wood, 

Gold-adorned  helmets,  and  slaves  out  of  Hun- 
land, 

2.  Falseness:  i.e.,  Gunnar’s  followers  concealed  their  fear 
and  hatred  of  the  Huns  at  the  feast;  but  the  word  may  mean 
“fear  of  treachery.”  War-hall:  the  word  used  is  “Valhall,”  the 
name  of  Othin’s  hall  of  slain  warriors. 

3.  Myrkwood  the  secret  (the  adjective  is  literally  “unknown”)  : 
the  forest  which  divided  Atli’s  realm  from  that  of  the  Gjukungs; 
cf.  Oddrunargratr,  23  and  note.  Around  the  hearth:  the  adjective 
is  the  same  one  which  is  applied  to  “benches”  in  stanza  1  (cf. 
note)  ;  it  may  be  an  error  here,  or  it  may  possibly  have  the  force 
of  “of  your  followers,”  i.e.,  Gunnar  is  to  arm  ihe  men  of  his 
household  (those  who  are  round  his  hearth)  for  the  journey. 

4.  Slaves,  etc.:  some  editions  have  “swords  in  plenty.”  Scar¬ 
let:  the  word  apparently  means  “slaughter-red,”  “blood-red,”  but 
it  may  mean  something  entirely  different. 

[  483  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Silver-gilt  saddle-cloths,  shirts  of  bright  scarlet, 

With  lances  and  spears  too,  and  bit-champing 

steeds. 

5.  “The  field  shall  be  given  you  of  wide  Gnita- 

heith, 

With  loud-ringing  lances,  and  stems  gold-o’er- 
laid, 

Treasures  full  huge,  and  the  home  of  Danp, 

And  the  mighty  forest  that  Myrkwood  is  called.” 

6.  H  is  head  turned  Gunnar,  and  to  Hogni  he  said: 

“What  thy  counsel,  young  hero,  when  such  things 

we  hear? 

No  gold  do  I  know  on  Gnitaheith  lying 

So  fair  that  other  its  equal  we  have  not. 

7.  “We  have  seven  halls,  each  of  swords  is  full, 

5.  Gnitaheith:  here  the  dragon  Fafnir  had  his  lair  (cf. 
Gripisspo,  11 ).  Sigurth  doubtless  owned  it  after  Fafnir’s  death, 
and  the  Gjukungs  after  they  had  killed  Sigurth.  Possibly  they 
had  given  it  to  Atli  in  recompense  for  the  death  of  his  sister, 
Brynhild,  and  he  now  offered  to  restore  it  to  them,  or — as  seems 
more  likely — the  poet  was  not  very  clear  about  its  ownership 
himself.  Stems:  i.e.,  the  gilded  stems  of  ships,  carved  like  dragons, 
— an  evident  northern  touch,  if  the  word  is  correct,  which  is  by 
no  means  certain.  Danp:  this  name  was  early  applied  to  a  myth¬ 
ical  Danish  king  (cf.  Rigsthula,  49  and  note),  but  it  may  have 
been  fabricated  by  error  out  of  the  word  “Danparstaþir”  (the 
phrase  here  used  is  “staþi  Danpar”),  used  in  the  Hervararsaga 
of  a  field  of  battle  between  the  Goths  and  the  Huns,  and  quite 
possibly  referring  to  the  region  of  the  Dnieper.  The  name  seems 
to  have  clung  fo  the  Atli  tradition  long  after  it  had  lost  all  defi¬ 
nite  significance.  Myrkwood:  cf.  note  on  stanza  3. 

[  484  ] 


Atlakvitha 


(And  all  of  gold  is  the  hilt  of  each;) 

My  steed  is  the  swiftest,  my  sword  is  sharpest, 
My  bows  adorn  benches,  my  byrnies  are  golden, 

My  helm  is  the  brightest  that  came  from  Kjar’s 

hall, 

(Mine  own  is  better  than  all  the  Huns’  treas¬ 
ure.)” 

Hogni  spake : 

8.  “What  seeks  she  to  say,  that  she  sends  us  a  ring, 
Woven  with  a  wolf’s  hair?  methinks  it  gives 

warning  ; 

In  the  red  ring  a  hair  of  the  heath-dweller 
found  I, 

Wolf-like  shall  our  road  be  if  we  ride  on  this 
journey.” 

9.  Not  eager  were  his  comrades,  nor  the  men  of  his 

kin, 


7.  The  stanza  is  clearly  in  bad  shape;  the  manuscript  indi¬ 
cates  line  5  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  In  line  5  the  manuscript 
has  “and  shield”  after  “helm.”  Kjar:  Gering  ingeniously  identifies 
this  Kjar  with  Kjar  the  father  of  Olrun,  mentioned  in  the 
Völundarkvitha,  introductory  prose  and  stanza  2,  on  the  basis 
of  a  genealogy  in  the  Flateyjarbok,  in  which  Authi,  the  grand¬ 
father  of  Kjar  (by  no  means  certainly  the  same  man)  and 
Buthli,  father  of  Atli,  are  mentioned  as  making  a  raiding  voyage 
together.  This  identification,  however,  rests  on  slight  evidence. 

8.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  One  editor 
gives  the  first  sentence  to  Gunnar.  She,  etc.:  Guthrun,  seeking  to 
warn  her  brothers  of  Atli’s  treachery,  sends  them  a  ring  with  a 
wolf’s  hair  as  a  sign  of  danger;  in  the  Atlamol  (stanza  4)  she 
sends  a  message  written  in  runes;  cf.  Drap  Niflunga.  Heath- 
dweller:  wolf. 


[  485  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  wise  nor  the  wary,  nor  the  warriors  bold. 
But  Gunnar  spake  forth  as  befitted  a  king, 

Noble  in  the  beer-hall,  and  bitter  his  scorn: 

io.  “Stand  forth  now,  Fjornir!  and  hither  on  the 
floor 

The  beakers  all  golden  shalt  thou  bring  to  the 
warriors. 


ii.  “The  wolves  then  shall  rule  the  wealth  of  the 
Niflungs, 

Wolves  aged  and  grey-hued,  if  Gunnar  is  lost, 
And  black-coated  bears  with  rending  teeth  bite, 
And  make  glad  the  dogs,  if  Gunnar  returns  not.” 


9.  In  line  1  the  manuscript  has  “His  comrades  did  not  urge 
Gunnar,”  but  the  name,  involving  a  metrical  error,  seems  to 
have  been  inserted  through  a  scribal  blunder. 

10.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  lacuna,  but  probably  two 
lines  have  dropped  out,  for  the  Volsungasaga  paraphrase  runs: 
“Give  us  to  drink  in  great  cups,  for  it  may  well  be  that  this 
shall  be  our  last  feast.”  Fjornir:  Gunnar’s  cup-bearer. 

11.  Bugge  thinks  this  stanza  is  spoken  by  Gunnar’s  terrified 
followers;  Grundtvig  assigns  it  to  Hogni.  Apparently,  however, 
Gunnar  means  that  if  he  and  his  men  are  not  valiant  enough  to 
make  the  journey  and  return  safely,  it  matters  little  what  may 
happen  to  them.  Niflungs:  regarding  the  application  of  this  name 
to  Gunnar’s  Burgundians  cf.  Brot,  17  and  note.  Bears:  these 
“black”  bears  have  been  used  as  arguments  against  the  Green¬ 
land  origin  of  the  poem.  And  make  glad  the  dogs:  i.e.,  by  giving 
them  corpses  to  eat,  but  the  phrase  in  the  original  is  more  than 
doubtful. 


[  486  ] 


Atlakvitha 


12.  A  following  gallant  fared  forth  with  the  ruler, 

Yet  they  wept  as  their  home  with  the  hero  they 

left ; 

And  the  little  heir  of  Hogni  called  loudly: 

“Go  safe  now,  ye  wise  ones,  wherever  ye  will!” 

13.  Then  let  the  bold  heroes  their  bit-champing 

horses 

On  the  mountains  gallop,  and  through  Myrk- 
wood  the  secret  ; 

All  Hunland  was  shaken  where  the  hard-souled 
ones  rode, 

On  the  whip-fearers  fared  they  through  fields 
that  were  green. 

14.  Then  they  saw  Atli’s  halls,  and  his  watch-towers 

high, 

12.  Some  editions  in  line  2  read  “home  of  the  Niflungs”  in¬ 
stead  of  “their  home,”  and  others  “home  of  the  Huns,”  the  manu¬ 
script  reading  being  “home  of  the  men.”  Heir:  the  Atlamol 
(stanza  28)  names  two  sons  of  Hogni,  Snævar  and  Solar,  both 
of  whom  make  the  journey  with  their  father  and  are  killed.  The 
V olsungasaga,  combining  the  two  versions,  says  that  Snævar  and 
Solar  went  with  their  father,  and  implies  that  it  was  a  third  and 
still  younger  son  who  said:  “Farewell,  and  have  a  good  time” 
(thus  literally). 

13.  Myrkwood. :  cf.  stanza  3  and  note;  the  journey  is  here 
made  by  land,  whereas  in  the  Atlamol  it  is  made  partly  by  boat; 
cf.  Atlamol,  34  and  note.  JV hip-fearers :  horses,  but  there  is  some 
uncertainty  as  to  the  word. 

14.  In  line  1  the  manuscript  has  “land”  instead  of  “halls,” 
which  involves  a  metrical  error.  Watch-towers :  the  word  used  is 
identical  with  the  name  of  Othin’s  watch-tower,  H lithskj olf  (cf. 
Grimnismol,  introductory  prose).  Buthli:  the  manuscript  has 
“Bikki,”  which  has.  led  some  editors  to  transfer  this  stanza  to 

‘[  487  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


On  the  walls  so  lofty  stood  the  warriors  of 
Buthli ; 

The  hall  of  the  southrons  with  seats  was  sur¬ 
rounded, 

With  targets  bound  and  shields  full  bright. 


15- 


Mid  weapons  and  lances  did  Atli  his  wine 
In  the  war-hall  drink,  without  were  his  watch¬ 
men, 

For  Gunnar  they  waited,  if  forth  he  should  go, 

With  their  ringing  spears  they  would  fight  with 

the  ruler. 


16.  This  their  sister  saw,  as  soon  as  her  brothers 

Had  entered  the  hall, —  little  ale  had  she  drunk: 
“Betrayed  art  thou,  Gunnar!  what  guard  hast 
thou,  hero, 

’Gainst  the  plots  of  the  Huns?  from  the  hall  flee 
swiftly! 


17.  “Brother,  ’twere  far  better 
byrnie, 

With  thy  household  helmed, 


to  have  come  in 
to  see  Atli’s  home, 


the  Hamthesmol,  placing  it  between  stanzas  16  and  17;  it  seems 
more  likely,  however,  that  “Bikki”  was  a  scribal  error  for 
“Buthli.”  Regarding  Bikki  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  cn  skamtna,  63  and 
note.  Line  4  is  apparently  in  Fornyrthislag. 

15.  Line  1  in  the  manuscript  is  apparently  incorrectly  copied, 
and  some  editions  omit  “Mid  weapons  and  lances”  and  assume  a 
gap  in  either  line  1  or  line  3. 

17.  This  may  be  the  remains  of  two  stanzas;  the  manuscript 
marks  line  5  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  Editorial  conjectures  are 

[  488  ] 


Atlakvitha 


And  to  sit  in  the  saddle  all  day  ’neath  the  sun, 
(That  the  sword-norns  might  weep  for  the 
death-pale  warriors, 

And  the  Hunnish  shield-maids  might  shun  not 
the  sword,) 

And  send  Atli  himself  to  the  den  of  the  snakes; 
(Now  the  den  of  the  snakes  for  thee  is  destined.)  ” 

Gunnar  spake : 

18 .  . 

“Too  late  is  it,  sister,  to  summon  the  Niflungs, 
Long  is  it  to  come  to  the  throng  of  our  comrades, 
The  heroes  gallant,  from  the  hills  of  the  Rhine.” 

•yfc 

19.  Then  Gunnar  they  seized,  and  they  set  him  in 
chains, 


numerous  and  varied.  Household:  the  phrase  is  the  same  “helms 
round  the  hearth”  commented  on  in  stanza  3.  Some  editions  insert 
a  conjectural  line  after  line  3.  Sword-norns,  etc.:  the  line  is  ex¬ 
ceedingly  obscure,  and  the  phrase  rendered  “sword-norns”  may 
mean  “corpse-norns.”  Apparently  it  refers  to  the  warrior-women 
of  the  Huns,  the  “shield-maids”  of  line  5  and  of  stanza  45. 
Roman  writers  refer  to  the  warrior-women  among  the  early 
Germanic  tribes,  and  the  tradition,  closely  allied  to  that  of  the 
Valkyries,  attached  itself  readily  to  the  ferocious  Huns.  Den  of 
snakes:  concerning  the  manner  of  Gunnar’s  death  cf.  Drap 
Niflunga. 

18.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  lacuna  and  does  not  name 
the  speaker;  perhaps  a  line  similar  to  line  1  of  stanza  24  (or  26) 
should  be  inserted  here.  Rhine:  Gunnar’s  Burgundian  home  is 
here  clearly  localized.  After  this  stanza  it  is  probable  that  a 
passage  describing  the  battle  has  been  lost. 

19.  These  two  lines,  apparently  the  remains  of  a  full  stanza, 

[  489  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  Burgundians’  king,  and  fast  they  bound  him. 

20.  Hogni  slew  seven  with  sword  so  keen, 

And  an  eighth  he  flung  in  the  fire  hot  ; 

A  hero  should  fight  with  his  foemen  thus, 

As  Hogni  strove  in  Gunnar’s  behalf. 


The  leader  they  asked  if  his  life  he  fain 
With  gold  would  buy,  the  king  of  the  Goths. 

Gunnar  spake: 

22.  “First  the  heart  of  Hogni  shall  ye  lay  in  my 
hands, 


may  belong  after  stanza  20.  Burgundians'  king:  the  phrase  may 
mean  “Burgundians’  men,”  i.e.,  they  bound  all  the  Burgundians 
who  were  left  alive  after  the  battle.  This  is  the  only  place  in 
the  poems  in  which  the  name  “Burgundian”  appears;  that  the 
poet  had  no  very  clear  conception  of  its  meaning  is  indicated  by 
the  fact  that  in  stanza  21  he  calls  Gunnar  “king  of  the  Goths.” 

20.  Apparently  a  Fornyrthislag  stanza,  though  most  editions 
have  attempted  to  expand  the  lines  into  Malahattr.  The  exploits 
of  Hogni  (Hagene),  with  the  names  of  many  of  his  victims,  are 
told  in  the  Nibelungenlied.  The  fire:  in  the  Nibelungenlied 
Kriemhild  has  the  hall  set  on  fire,  and  the  Burgundians  fight 
amid  the  flames.  Line  4  is  clearly  defective,  and  some  editors 
regard  the  name  “Gunnar”  as  all  that  is  left  of  the  first  two 
lines  of  stanza  21. 

21.  Again  apparently  the  remains  of  a  Fornyrthislag  stanza. 
Editors  have  attempted  various  combinations  of  the  lines.  Gold: 
presumably  Sigurth’s  treasure. 

22.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker;  perhaps 
a  first  line  similar  to  line  1  of  stanza  24  should  appear  here. 
Some  editors,  however,  assume  that  a  line  is  missing  after  line  3. 

[  490  ] 


Atlakvitha 


All  bloody  from  the  breast  of  the  bold  one  cut 
With  keen-biting  sword,  from  the  son  of  the 
king.” 


23 . 

They  cut  out  the  heart  from  the  breast  of  Hj  alii. 
On  a  platter  they  bore  it,  and  brought  it  to 
Gunnar. 

24.  Then  Gunnar  spake  forth,  the  lord  of  the  folk: 
“Here  have  I  the  heart  of  Hjalli  the  craven, 
Unlike  to  the  heart  of  Hogni  the  valiant, 

For  it  trembles  still  as  it  stands  on  the  platter; 
Twice  more  did  it  tremble  in  the  breast  of  the 
man.” 

25.  Then  Hogni  laughed  when  they  cut  out  the  heart 
Of  the  living  helm-hammerer;  tears  he  had  not. 

On  a  platter  they  bore  it,  and  brought  it  to 
Gunnar. 


Gunnar  demands  proof  that  Hogni  is  dead  because,  as  stanza  28 
shows,  he  is  unwilling  to  die  himself  until  he  is  assured  that  the 
secret  of  the  treasure  will  perish  with  him.  He  did  not,  of  course, 
intend  that  the  heart  should  be  cut  from  the  living  Hogni. 

23.  Most  editions  assume  a  gap  (lines  1-2,  2-3  or  3-4).  Hjalli: 
Atli’s  cook,  killed  to  deceive  Gunnar,  as  Atli  hoped  to  wring  the 
secret  of  the  hoard  from  Hogni  if  Gunnar  remained  silent.  In 
the  Atlamol  (stanzas  59-60)  Atli’s  men  prepare  to  kill  Hjalli, 
but  he  is  spared  at  Hogni’s  intercession. 

25.  Helm-hammerer  (literally  “helmet-smith”)  :  warrior,  i.e., 
Hogni.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript. 

[4911 


Poetic  Edda 


26.  Then  Gunnar  spake  forth,  the  spear  of  the 

Niflungs : 

“Here  have  I  the  heart  of  Hogni  the  valiant, 
Unlike  to  the  heart  of  H j alii  the  craven, 

Little  it  trembles  as  it  lies  on  the  platter, 

Still  less  did  it  tremble  when  it  lay  in  his  breast. 

27.  “So  distant,  Atli,  from  all  men’s  eyes, 

Shalt  thou  be  as  thou  . from  the  gold. 


28.  “To  no  one  save  me  is  the  secret  known 

Of  the  Niflungs’  hoard,  now  Hogni  is  dead; 

Of  old  there  were  two,  while  we  twain  were 
alive, 

Now  is  none  but  I,  for  I  only  am  living. 

29.  “The  swift  Rhine  shall  hold  the  strife-gold  of 

heroes, 

That  once  was  the  gods’,  the  wealth  of  the 
Niflungs, 


26.  Line  i  may  belong  elsewhere  (stanzas  18  or  22). 

27.  Apparently  the  remains  of  two  Fornyrthislag  lines;  the 
manuscript  combines  them  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  28.  Gunnar 
foretells  Atli’s  speedy  death. 

28.  Apparently  in  Fornyrthislag.  The  manuscript  indicates 
line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza,  and  many  editions  combine 
lines  3-4  with  stanza  29.  This  stanza  explains  Gunnar’s  demand 
for  Hogni’s  heart  in  stanza  22. 

29.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3,  and  not  line  1,  as  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  a  stanza.  Rhine,  etc.:  the  stanza  shows  the  blending  of 

[  492  ] 


Atlakvitha 


In  the  depths  of  the  waters  the  death-rings  shall 
glitter, 

And  not  shine  on  the  hands  of  the  Hunnish  men.” 
Atli  spake: 

30.  “Ye  shall  bring  the  wagon,  for  now  is  he  bound.” 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


* 


31.  On  the  long-maned  Glaum  rode  Atli  the  great, 

About  him  were  warriors  . 

But  Guthrun,  akin  to  the  gods  of  slaughter, 
Yielded  not  to  her  tears  in  the  hall  of  tumult. 


three  different  traditions  with  regard  to  the  treasure:  the  German 
tradition  of  the  gold  of  the  Rhine  (cf.  Völundarbvitha,  16,  and 
Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  16),  the  tradition,  likewise  German, 
of  the  hoard  of  the  Nibelungen  (Niflungs),  early  blended  with 
the  first  one,  and  finally  the  northern  tradition  of  the  theft  of 
Andvari’s  treasure  by  Othin,  Hönir,  and  Loki  (cf.  Reginsmol, 
1-9). 

30.  Apparently  all  that  is  left  of  a  full  stanza.  The  manu¬ 
script  does  not  name  Atli  as  the  speaker,  and  Grundtvig  inserts: 
“Then  Atli  called,  the  king  of  the  Huns,”  as  a  first  line.  Some 
editors  combine  this  line  with  the  two  lines  of  stanza  33.  Wagon : 
in  Brot,  1 6,  Gunnar  is  led  to  his  death  in  the  serpents’  den  on 
horseback,  not  in  a  wagon. 

31.  The  stanza  in  the  original  is  hopelessly  confused.  Glaum: 
this  horse  of  Atli’s  is  mentioned  by  name  elsewhere.  Long-maned. : 
uncertain.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  something  has 
evidently  been  lost.  Gods  of  slaughter:  perhaps  the  phrase, 
usually  applied  to  Othin  and  the  other  gods,  is  here  used  simply 
to  mean  “heroes,”  i.e.,  Atli,  Gunnar,  and  Hogni.  Line  4  suggests 
Guthrun’s  tearlessness  after  Sigurth’s  death  (cf.  Guthrunarkvitha 

II ,  11). 


[  493  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Gutlirun  spake: 

32.  “It  shall  go  with  thee,  Atli, 
heldest 

The  oaths  ofttimes  sworn, 
By  the  sun  in  the  south, 

By  the  horse  of  the  rest-bed, 


as  with  Gunnar  thou 

and  of  old  made  firm, 
by  Sigtyr’s  mountain, 
and  the  ring  of  Ull.” 


33.  Then  the  champer  of  bits 
The  gold-guarder,  down 


drew  the  chieftain  great, 
to  the  place  of  death. 


34.  By  the  warriors’  host  was  the  living  hero 
Cast  in  the  den  where  crawling  about 
Within  were  serpents,  but  soon  did  Gunnar 
With  his  hand  in  wrath  on  the  harp-strings 
smite ; 


32.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  Sigtyr 
(“Victory-God”):  Othin ;  what  particular  mountain  (if  any)  is 
meant  is  unknown.  Horse  of  the  rest-bed:  probably  this  means 
“bedpost,”  i.e.,  the  support  of  the  marriage-bed.  Ull:  the  archer- 
god,  cf.  Grimnismol,  5  and  note.  Nothing  is  known  of  ,his  ring. 

33.  Apparently  the  remains  of  a  Fornyrthislag  stanza.  Some 
editors  combine  the  two  lines  with  the  line  here  indicated  as 
stanza  30.  Champer  of  bits:  horse.  The  manuscript  indicates  no 
gap. 

34.  Six  Fornyrthislag  lines  which  editors  have  tried  to  recon¬ 
struct  in  all  sorts  of  ways.  The  manuscript  marks  line  5  as  the 
beginning  of  a  new  stanza.  Regarding  the  serpents’  den,  Gunnar’s 
harp-playing,  and  the  manner  of  his  death,  cf.  Drap  Niflunga 
and  Oddrunargratr,  27-30,  and  notes.  In  Atlamol,  62,  Gunnar 
plays  the  harp  with  his  feet,  his  hands  being  bound,  and  some 
editors  change  hand  in  line  4  to  “foot.”  Lines  5-6  may  be  inter¬ 
polated,  or,  as  Bugge  maintains,  lines  1-4  may  have  been 
expanded  out  of  two  lines. 


[  494  ] 


Atlakvitha 


The  strings  resounded, —  so  shall  a  hero, 

A  ring-breaker,  gold  from  his  enemies  guard. 

35.  Then  Atli  rode  on  his  earth-treading  steed, 
Seeking  his  home,  from  the  slaughter-place; 
There  was  clatter  of  hoofs  of  the  steeds  in  the 

court, 

And  the  clashing  of  arms  as  they  came  from  the 
field. 

36.  Out  then  came  Guthrun  to  meeting  with  Atli, 
With  a  golden  beaker  as  gift  to  the  monarch : 
“Thou  mayst  eat  now,  chieftain,  within  thy 

dwelling, 

Blithely  with  Guthrun  young  beasts  fresh 
slaughtered.” 

37.  The  wine-heavy  ale-cups  of  Atli  resounded, 
When  there  in  the  hall  the  Hunnish  youths  claim 

ored, 

And  the  warriors  bearded,  the  brave  ones,  entered. 


35.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 
Two  (possibly  three)  of  the  lines  appear  to  be  in  Fornyrthislag. 
Field:  so  the  manuscript,  involving  a  metrical  error;  many 
editions  have  “wood.” 

36.  Young  beasts:  Guthrun  means  Atli’s  sons,  Erp  and  Eitil, 
but  of  course  he  thinks  she  refers  to  newly  slaughtered  beasts; 
cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  II,  41-45. 

37.  Youths:  a  conjectural  addition.  The  brave  ones  is  also 
conjectural,  the  manuscript  having  “each.”  No  gap  indicated  in 
the  manuscript;  some  editions  insert  as  line  3  or  line  4  a  slightly 
altered  version  of  line  2  of  stanza  45. 

[  495  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


38.  Then  in  came  the  shining  one,  . 

.  and  drink  she  bore  them; 

Unwilling  and  bitter  brought  she  food  to  the 
warrior, 

Till  in  scorn  to  the  white-faced  Atli  did  she 
speak : 


39.  “Thou  giver  of  swords,  of  thy  sons  the  hearts 
All  heavy  with  blood  in  honey  thou  hast  eaten; 
Thou  shalt  stomach,  thou  hero,  the  flesh  of  the 

slain, 

To  eat  at  thy  feast,  and  to  send  to  thy  followers. 

40.  “Thou  shalt  never  call  to  thy  knees  again 
Erp  or  Eitil,  when  merry  with  ale; 

Thou  shalt  never  see  in  their  seats  again 
The  sharers  of  gold  their  lances  shaping, 
(Clipping  the  manes  or  minding  their  steeds.)” 


41.  There  was  clamor  on  the  benches,  and  the  cry 
of  men, 


38.  No  gap  indicated  in  the  manuscript,  but  the  two  fragments 
cannot  be  fitted  together  as  one  line.  The  shining  one:  Guthrun. 

39.  Giver  of  swords:  generous  prince,  i.e.,  Atli.  Honey:  cf. 
Guthrunarkvitha  II,  42.  To  send  to  thy  followers :  literally,  “to 
send  from  thy  high  seat.” 

40.  Apparently  a  Fornyrthislag  stanza.  Merry  with  ale:  pre¬ 
sumably  this  refers  to  Atli,  but  the  manuscript  reading  makes  it 
apply  to  the  two  boys.  Sharers  of  gold:  princes.  Line  5  is  either 
interpolated  or  all  that  is  left  of  a  separate  stanza. 

41.  The  text  of  the  whole  stanza  has  required  a  considerable 
amount  of  emendation.  Lines  3-5  may  have  been  expanded  out  of 
two  lines,  or  line  5  may  be  an  interpolation,  possibly  from  stanza 

[  496  ] 


Atlakvitha 


The  clashing  of  weapons,  and  weeping  of  the 
Huns, 

Save  for  Guthrun  only,  she  wept  not  ever 
For  her  bear-fierce  brothers,  or  the  boys  so  dear, 
So  young  and  so  unhappy,  whom  with  Atli  she 
had. 

42.  Gold  did  she  scatter,  the  swan-white  one, 

And  rings  of  red  gold  to  the  followers  gave  she ; 

The  fate  she  let  grow,  and  the  shining  wealth  go, 

Nor  spared  she  the  treasure  of  the  temple  itself. 

43.  Unwise  then  was  Atli,  he  had  drunk  to  wildness, 
No  weapon  did  he  have,  and  of  Guthrun  bewared 

not; 

Oft  their  play  was  better  when  both  in  gladness 
Each  other  embraced  among  princes  all. 

44.  With  her  sword  she  gave  blood  for  the  bed  to 

drink, 


12  of  the  Guthrunarhvot.  Weapons:  the  word  literally  means 
“good-weaving,”  and  may  refer  to  silken  garments,  but  this 
hardly  fits  the  noun  here  rendered  “clashing.”  Wept  not:  cf. 
stanza  31  and  note. 

42.  Line  1  appears  to  be  in  Fornyrthislag.  Guthrun  distributes 
Atli’s  treasures  among  his  followers  apparently  to  prevent  their 
wrath  at  the  slaying  of  Erp  and  Eitil  from  turning  against  her; 
Atli,  as  stanza  43  shows,  is  too  drunk  to  realize  or  prevent  what 
she  is  doing. 

43.  The  second  half  of  line  4  is  apparently  an  error,  but  none 
of  the  editorial  suggestions  have  improved  it. 

44.  Guthrun  allows  the  dogs  and  the  house-thralls,  who  had 
no  part  in  Gunnar’s  death,  to  escape  before  she  burns  the  dwell- 

[  497  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


With  her  death-dealing  hand,  and  the  hounds  she 
loosed, 

The  thralls  she  awakened,  and  a  firebrand  threw 
In  the  door  of  the  hall ;  so  vengeance  she  had. 

45.  To  the  flames  she  gave  all  who  yet  were  within, 
And  from  Myrkheim  had  come  from  the  murder 

of  Gunnar; 

The  timbers  old  fell,  the  temple  was  in  flames, 
The  dwelling  of  the  Buthlungs,  and  the  shield- 
maids  burned, 

They  were  slain  in  the  house,  in  the  hot  flames 
they  sank. 

46.  Now  the  tale  is  all  told,  nor  in  later  time 
Will  a  woman  in  byrnie  avenge  so  her  brothers; 
The  fair  one  to  three  of  the  kings  of  the  folk 
Brought  the  doom  of  death  ere  herself  she  died. 

Still  more  is  told  in  the  Greenland  ballad  of  Atli. 


ing  with  all  who  are  left  therein.  In  Atlamol,  stanzas  83-84,  Atli 
is  slain  by  a  son  of  Hogni  (Hniflung?)  with  Guthrun’s  help. 

45.  Some  editions  transfer  line  2  to  stanza  37;  others  reject 
line  3  as  interpolated.  Myrkheim  (“Dark-Home”)  :  probably 
identical  with  Myrkwood ;  cf.  stanza  3.  Temple:  probably  both 
here  and  in  stanza  42  the  word  means  little  more  than  the  place 
where  Atli’s  treasures  were  kept;  the  poet  was  by  no  means 
literal  in  his  use  of  terms  connected  with  the  heathen  religion, 
Buthlungs :  sons  of  Buthli,  i.e.,  Atli  and  his  family.  Shield-maids : 
cf.  stanza  17  and  note. 

46.  The  entire  stanza  is  very  likely  a  later  addition.  Three 
kings:  Atli  and  his  two  sons,  Erp  and  Eitil. 

[  498  ] 


ATLAMOL  EN  GRONLENZKU 

The  Greenland  Ballad  of  Atli 

Introductory  Note 

Many  of  the  chief  facts  regarding  the  Atlamol,  which  follows 
the  Atlakvitha  in  the  Codex  Regius,  are  outlined  in  the  intro¬ 
ductory  note  to  the  earlier  Atli  lay.  That  the  superscription  in 
the  manuscript  is  correct,  and  that  the  poem  was  actually  com¬ 
posed  in  Greenland,  is  generally  accepted;  the  specific  reference 
to  polar  bears  (stanza  17),  and  the  general  color  of  the  entire 
poem  make  this  origin  exceedingly  likely.  Most  critics,  again, 
agree  in  dating  the  poem  nearer  1100  than  1050.  As  to  its  state 
of  preservation  there  is  some  dispute,  but,  barring  one  or  two 
possible  gaps  of  some  importance,  and  the  usual  number  of 
passages  in  which  the  interpolation  or  omission  of  one  or  two 
lines  may  be  suspected,  the  Atlamol  has  clearly  come  down  to  us 
in  fairly  good  shape. 

Throughout  the  poem  the  epic  quality  of  the  story  itself  is 
overshadowed  by  the  romantically  sentimental  tendencies  of  the 
poet,  and  by  his  desire  to  adapt  the  narrative  to  the  understand¬ 
ing  of  his  fellow-Greenlanders.  The  substance  of  the  poem  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Atlakvitha  ;  it  tells  of  Atli’s  message  to 
the  sons  of  Gjuki,  their  journey  to  Atli’s  home,  the  slaying  of 
Hogni  and  Gunnar,  Guthrun’s  bitterness  over  the  death  of  her 
brothers,  and  her  bloody  revenge  on  Atli.  Thus  in  its  bare  out¬ 
line  the  Atlamol  represents  simply  the  Frankish  blending  of  the 
legends  of  the  slaughter  of  the  Burgundians  and  the  death  of 
Attila  (cf.  Gripisspo,  introductory  note).  But  here  the  resem¬ 
blance  ends.  The  poet  has  added  characters,  apparently  of  his 
own  creation,  for  the  sake  of  episodes  which  would  appeal  to 
both  the  men  and  the  women  of  the  Greenland  settlement.  Sea 
voyages  take  the  place  of  journeys  by  land;  Atli  is  reproached, 
not  for  cowardice  in  battle,  but  for  weakness  at  the  Thing  or 
great  council.  The  additions  made  by  the  poet  are  responsible 
for  the  AtlamoVs  being  the  longest  of  all  the  heroic  poems  in 
the  Eddie  collection,  and  they  give  it  a  kind  of  emotional  vivid¬ 
ness,  but  it  has  little  of  the  compressed  intensity  of  the  older 
poems.  Its  greatest  interest  lies  in  its  demonstration  of  the  manner 
in  which  a  story  brought  to  the  North  from  the  South  Germanic 
lands  could  be  adapted  to  the  understanding  and  tastes  of  its 

[  499  ] 


Poetic  Edda 

eleventh  century  hearers  without  any  material  change  of  the 
basic  narrative. 

In  what  form  or  forms  the  story  of  the  Gjukungs  and  Atli 
reached  the  Greenland  poet  cannot  be  determined,  but  it  seems 
likely  that  he  was  familiar  with  older  poems  on  the  subject,  and 
possibly  with  the  Atlakvitha  itself.  That  the  details  which  are 
peculiar  to  the  Atlamol,  such  as  the  figures  of  Kostbera  and 
Glaumvor,  existed  in  earlier  tradition  seems  doubtful,  but  the 
son  of  Hogni,  who  aids  Guthrun  in  the  slaying  of  Atli,  appears, 
though  under  another  name,  in  other  late  versions  of  the  story, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  say  just  how  much  the  poet  relied  on  his 
own  imagination  and  how  far  he  found  suggestions  and  hints 
in  the  prose  or  verse  stories  of  Atli  with  which  he  was  familiar. 

The  poem  is  in  Malahattr  (cf.  Introduction)  throughout,  the 
verse  being  far  more  regular  than  in  the  Atlakvitha.  The  com¬ 
pilers  of  the  V olsungasaga  evidently  knew  it  in  very  much  the 
form  in  which  we  now  have  it,  for  in  the  main  it  is  paraphrased 
with  great  fidelity. 


1.  There  are  many  who  know  how  of  old  did  men 
In  counsel  gather;  little  good  did  they  get; 

In  secret  they  plotted,  it  was  sore  for  them  later, 
And  for  Gjuki’s  sons,  whose  trust  they  deceived. 

2.  Fate  grew  for  the  princes,  to  death  they  were 

given ; 

Ill  counsel  was  Atli’s,  though  keenness  he  had ; 


1.  Men:  Atli  and  his  advisers,  with  whom  he  planned  the 
death  of  the  sons  of  Gjuki,  Gunnar  and  Hogni.  The  poet’s  ref¬ 
erence  to  the  story  as  well  known  explains  the  abruptness  of 
his  introduction,  without  the  mention  of  Atli’s  name,  and  his 
reference  to  Guthrun  in  stanza  3  simply  as  “the  woman” 
(“husfreyja,”  goddess  of  the  house). 

2.  Princes:  Atli,  Gunnar,  and  Hogni.  Bulwark:  Atli’s  slaying 

[  500] 


Atlamol 


He  felled  his  staunch  bulwark,  his  own  sorrow 
fashioned, 

Soon  a  message  he  sent  that  his  kinsmen  should 
seek  him. 

3.  Wise  was  the  woman,  she  fain  would  use  wisdom, 
She  saw  well  what  meant  all  they  said  in  secret ; 
From  her  heart  it  was  hid  how  help  she  might 

render, 

The  sea  they  should  sail,  while  herself  she  should 
go  not. 

4.  Runes  did  she  fashion,  but  false  Vingi  made  them, 
The  speeder  of  hatred,  ere  to  give  them  he  sought ; 
Then  soon  fared  the  warriors  whom  Atli  had 

sent, 

And  to  Limafjord  came,  to  the  home  of  the  kings. 

5.  They  were  kindly  with  ale,  and  fires  they  kindled, 


of  his  wife’s  brothers,  who  were  ready  to  support  and  defend 
him  in  his  greatness,  was  the  cause  of  his  own  death. 

3.  The  ‘woman:  Guthrun,  concerning  whose  marriage  to  Atli 
cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  II.  The  sea:  a  late  and  essentially  Green¬ 
land  variation  of  the  geography  of  the  Atli  story.  Even  the 
Atlakvitha,  perhaps  half  a  century  earlier,  separates  Atli’s  land 
from  that  of  the  Gjukungs  only  by  a  forest. 

4.  Runes:  on  the  two  versions  of  Guthrun’s  warning,  and 
also  on  the  name  of  the  messenger  (here  Vingi),  cf.  Drap 
Niflunga  and  note.  Limafjord :  probably  the  Limfjord  of  north¬ 
ern  Jutland,  an  important  point  in  the  wars  of  the  eleventh 
century.  The  name  was  derived  from  “Eylimafjprþ,”  i.e., 
Eylimi’s  fjord.  The  poet  may  really  have  thought  that  the  king¬ 
dom  of  the  Burgundians  was  in  Jutland,  or  he  may  simply  have 
taken  a  well-known  name  for  the  sake  of  vividness. 

[  501  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


They  thought  not  of  craft  from  the  guests  who 
had  come ; 

The  gifts  did  they  take  that  the  noble  one  gave 
them, 

On  the  pillars  they  hung  them,  no  fear  did  they 
harbor. 

6.  Forth  did  Kostbera,  wife  of  Hogni,  then  come, 
Full  kindly  she  was,  and  she  welcomed  them 

both  ; 

And  glad  too  was  Glaumvor,  the  wife  of  Gunnar, 
She  knew  well  to  care  for  the  needs  of  the  guests. 

7.  Then  Hogni  they  asked  if  more  eager  he  were, 
Full  clear  was  the  guile,  if  on  guard  they  had 

been ; 

Then  Gunnar  made  promise,  if  Hogni  would  go, 
And  Hogni  made  answer  as  the  other  counseled. 

8.  Then  the  famed  ones  brought  mead,  and  fair  was 

the  feast, 


5.  Some  editors  assume  a  gap  after  this  stanza. 

6.  Some  editions  place  this  stanza  between  stanzas  7  and  8. 
Kostbera  (“The  Giver  of  Food”)  and  Glaumvor  (“The 
Merry”)  :  presumably  creations  of  the  poet.  Both:  Atli’s  two 
emissaries,  Vingi  and  the  one  here  unnamed  (Knefröth  ?). 

7.  It  is  altogether  probable  that  a  stanza  has  been  lost  be¬ 
tween  stanzas  6  and  7,  in  which  Gunnar  is  first  invited,  and 
replies  doubtfully.  Made  promise:  many  editions  emend  the  text 
to  read  “promised  the  journey.”  The  text  of  line  4  is  obscure; 
the  manuscript  reads  “nitti”  (“refused”),  which  many  editors 
have  changed  to  “hlitti,”  which  means  exactly  the  opposite. 

8.  No  gap  is  indicated  in  the  manuscript;  Bugge  adds  (line 

[  502  ] 


Atlamol 


Full  many  were  the  horns,  till  the  men  had  drunk 
deep ; 

Then  the  mates  made  ready  their  beds  for  rest¬ 
ing. 


9.  Wise  was  Kostbera,  and  cunning  in  rune-craft, 
The  letters  would  she  read  by  the  light  of  the  fire ; 
But  full  quickly  her  tongue  to  her  palate  clave, 
So  strange  did  they  seem  that  their  meaning  she 
saw  not. 


10.  Full  soon  then  his  bed  came  Hogni  to  seek, 

•  ••••••  •  •••••• 

The  clear-souled  one  dreamed,  and  her  dream 
she  kept  not, 

To  the  warrior  the  wise  one  spake  when  she 
wakened : 

11.  “Thou  wouldst  go  hence,  Hogni,  but  heed  my 

counsel, — 


3)  :  “Then  the  warriors  rose,  and  to  slumber  made  ready.” 
The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  beginning  a  new  stanza,  and 
some  editions  make  a  separate  stanza  out  of  lines  1-2.  Others 
suggest  the  loss’ of  a  line  after  line  4. 

9.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  line  1  as  the  beginning 
of  a  stanza;  cf.  note  on  stanza  8. 

10.  Some  editions  combine  this  stanza  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza 
n.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap.  Grundtvig  adds  (line  2)  : 
“But  sleep  to  the  woman  so  wise  came  little.” 

11.  Some  editions  make  a  separate  stanza  out  of  lines  1-2,  or 
combine  them  with  stanza  10,  and  combine  lines  3-4  with  stanza 

[  503  ] 


Poetic  Edda 

Known  to  few  are  the  runes, —  and  put  off  thy 

faring ; 

I  have  read  now  the  runes  that  thy  sister  wrote, 
And  this  time  the  bright  one  did  not  bid  thee  to 
come. 

12.  “Full  much  do  I  wonder,  nor  well  can  I  see, 
Why  the  woman  wise  so  wildly  hath  written; 
But  to  me  it  seems  that  the  meaning  beneath 
Is  that  both  shall  be  slain  if  soon  ye  shall  go. 

But  one  rune  she  missed,  or  else  others  have 

marred  it.” 

Hogni  spake: 

13.  “All  women  are  fearful;  not  so  do  I  feel, 

Ill  I  seek  not  to  find  till  I  soon  must  avenge  it; 
The  king  now  will  give  us  the  glow-ruddy  gold ; 

I  never  shall  fear,  though  of  dangers  I  know.” 

Kostbera  spake: 

14.  “In  danger  ye  fare,  if  forth  ye  go  thither, 


12  (either  lines  1-4  or  1-2).  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as 
beginning  a  new  stanza. 

12.  Line  5  may  be  spurious,  or  else  all  that  is  left  of  a  lost 
stanza.  The  manuscript  marks  it  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza,  which,  as  the  text  stands,  is  clearly  impossible. 

13.  The  manuscript,  followed  by  some  editions,  has  “Hogni 
spake”  in  the  middle  of  line  1.  Ill:  the  manuscript  and  many  edi¬ 
tions  have  “this.”  The  king:  Atli. 

14.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers  in  this  dia¬ 
logue  between  Kostbera  and  Hogni  (stanzas  14-19).  Two  lines 
may  possibly  have  been  lost  after  line  2,  filling  out  stanza  14  and 

[  504  ] 


Atlamol 


No  welcoming  friendly  this  time  shall  ye  find ; 
For  I  dreamed  now,  Hogni,  and  nought  will  I 
hide, 

Full  evil  thy  faring,  if  rightly  I  fear. 


15.  “Thy  bed-covering  saw 
And  the  fire  burst  high 
home.” 

Hogni  spake: 

“Yon  garment  of  linen 
It  will  soon  be  burned, 
cover.” 


I  in  the  flames  burning, 
through  the  walls  of  my 

lies  little  of  worth, 
so  thou  sawest  the  bed- 


Kostbera  spake: 

16.  “A  bear  saw  I  enter,  the  pillars  he  broke, 

And  he  brandished  his  claws  so  that  craven  we 
were ; 

With  his  mouth  seized  he  many,  and  nought  was 
our  might, 

And  loud  was  the  tumult,  not  little  it  was.” 


making  stanza  15  (then  consisting  of  lines  3-4  of  stanza  14  and 
lines  1-2  of  stanza  15)  the  account  of  Kostbera’s  first  dream. 
The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  In 
any  case,  the  lost  lines  cannot  materially  have  altered  the 
meaning. 

15.  Saw  I:  the  manuscript  here,  as  also  in  stanzas  16,  18,  21, 
22,  and  24,  has  “methought,”  which  involves  a  metrical  error. 
Some  editors  regard  lines  3-4  as  the  remains  of  a  four-line 
stanza.  Regarding  Kostbera’s  warning  dreams,  and  Hogni’s 
matter-of-fact  interpretations  of  them,  cf.  Guthrunarkvitha  II, 

39-44- 

16.  The  meaning  of  the  first  half  of  line  3  in  the  original  is 
obscure. 


[  505  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Hogni  spake: 

17.  “Now  a  storm  is  brewing,  and  wild  it  grows 

swiftly, 

A  dream  of  an  ice-bear 
east.” 

Kostbera  spake: 

18.  “An  eagle  I  saw  flying 

house, 

Our  fate  must  be  bad, 
kled  us; 


From  the  evil  I  fear  that  ’twas  Atli’s  spirit.” 
Hogni  spake: 

19.  “They  will  slaughter  soon,  and  so  blood  do  we 
see, 

Oft  oxen  it  means  when  of  eagles  one  dreams; 


means  a  gale  from  the 

from  the  end  through  the 
for  with  blood  he  sprin- 


17.  Two  lines  may  have  been  lost  after  line  2,  but  the  Vol- 
sungasaga  paraphrase  gives  no  clue.  Ice-bear:  polar  bears,  com¬ 
mon  in  Greenland,  are  very  rarely  found  in  Iceland,  and  never 
in  Norway,  a  fact  which  substantiates  the  manuscript’s  reference 
to  Greenland  as  the  home  of  the  poem. 

18.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  most  editors  assume 
the  loss  of  a  line  after  line  1  or  2;  Grundtvig  adds,  after  line  1: 
“Black  were  his  feathers,  with  blood  was  he  covered.”  Atli’s 
spirit:  the  poet’s  folk-lore  seems  here  a  bit  weak.  Presumably  he 
means  such  a  female  following-spirit  (“fylgja”)  as  appears  in 
H  elgakvitha  Hjorvartbssonar,  prose  following  stanza  34  (cf. 
note  thereon),  but  the  word  he  uses,  “hamr”  (masculine)  means 
“skin,”  “shape.”  He  may,  however,  imply  that  Atli  had  assumed 
the  shape  of  an  eagle  for  this  occasion. 

19.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  beginning  a  new 
stanza. 


[  506  ] 


Atlamol 


True  is  Atli’s  heart,  whatever  thou  dreamest.” 

Then  silent  they  were,  and  nought  further  they 
said. 

20.  The  high-born  ones  wakened,  and  like  speech 
they  had, 

Then  did  Glaumvor  tell  how  in  terror  she 
dreamed, 


. Gunnar  two  roads  they  should  go. 

Glaumvor  spake: 

2i.  “A  gallows  saw  I  ready,  thou  didst  go  to  thy 
hanging, 

Thy  flesh  serpents  ate,  and  yet  living  I  found 
thee  ; 


The  gods’  doom  descended ;  now  say  what  it 
boded.” 

■sfr  ^ 

22.  “A  sword  drawn  bloody  from  thy  garments  I 
saw, — 


20.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  none  of  the  many 
attempted  emendations  have  made  sense  out  of  the  words  as 
they  stand.  The  proper  location  for  the  missing  words  is  sheer 
guesswork.  Two  roads:  probably  the  meaning  is  that  their  way 
(i.e.,  their  success)  would  be  doubtful. 

21.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers  in  this 
dialogue  (stanzas  21-26).  No  gap  is  indicated  after  line  2.  Most 
editors  assume  the  loss  of  two  lines  or  of  a  full  stanza  after 

[  507  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Such  a  dream  is  hard  to  a  husband  to  tell, — 

A  spear  stood,  methought,  through  thy  body 
thrust, 

And  at  head  and  feet  the  wolves  were  howling.” 
Gunnar  spake: 

23.  “The  hounds  are  running, 

heard, 

Oft  hounds’  clamor  follows 

Glaumvor  spake: 

24.  “A  river  the  length  of  the  hall  saw  I  run, 

Full  swiftly  it  roared,  o’er  the  benches  it  swept; 
O’er  the  feet  did  it  break  of  ye  brothers  twain, 
The  water  would  yield  not ;  some  meaning  there 
was.” 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

25.  “I  dreamed  that  by  night  came  dead  women 

hither, 


loud  their  barking  is 
the  flying  of  spears.” 


stanza  21  giving  Gunnar’s  interpretation  of  Glaumvor’s  dream, 
but  the  V olsungasaga  gives  no  clue,  as  it  does  not  mention  this 
first  dream  at  all.  Grundtvig  suggests  as  Gunnar’s  answer: 
“Banners  are  gleaming,  since  of  gallows  didst  dream,  /  And 
wealth  it  must  mean  that  thou  serpents  didst  watch.”  Gods’ 
doom:  an  odd,  and  apparently  mistaken,  use  of  the  phrase 
“ragna  rök”  (cf.  Voluspo,  introductory  note) . 

23.  Perhaps  two  lines  have  been  lost  after  line  2.  Possibly 
the  concluding  phrase  of  line  2  should  be  “bloody  spears,”  as  in 
the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase. 

24.  Again  Gunnar’s  interpretation  is  missing,  and  most  editors 
either  assume  a  gap  or  construct  two  Malahattr  lines  out  of  the 
V olsungasaga  prose  paraphrase,  which  runs:  “The  grain  shall 

[  508  ] 


Atlamol 

Sad  were  their  garments,  and  thee  were  they 
seeking  ; 

They  bade  thee  come  swiftly  forth  to  their 
benches, 

And  nothing,  methinks,  could  the  Norns  avail 
thee.” 

Gunnar  spake: 

26.  “Too  late  is  thy  speaking,  for  so  is  it  settled; 
From  the  faring  I  turn  not,  the  going  is  fixed, 
Though  likely  it  is  that  our  lives  shall  be  short.” 

27.  Then  bright  shone  the  morning,  the  men  all  were 

ready, 

They  said,  and  yet  each  would  the  other  hold 
back ; 

Five  were  the  warriors,  and  their  followers  all 

But  twice  as  many, —  their  minds  knew  not 

wisdom. 

28.  Snævar  and  Solar,  they  were  sons  of  Hogni, 
Orkning  was  he  called  who  came  with  the  others, 


flow,  since  thou  hast  dreamed  of  rivers,  and  when  we  go  to  the 
fields,  often  the  chaff  rises  above  our  feet.” 

25.  The  meaning  of  line  4  is  uncertain,  but  apparently  it 
refers  to  the  guardian  spirits  or  lesser  Norns  (cf.  Fafnismol, 
12-13  and  notes). 

26.  Possibly  a  line  has  been  lost  from  this  stanza. 

27.  Five:  Gunnar,  Hogni,  and  the  three  mentioned  in 
stanza  28. 

28.  Perhaps  a  line  has  been  lost  before  line  1 ;  Grundtvig 
supplies:  “Gunnar  and  Hogni,  the  heirs  twain  of  Gjuki.” 
Sncevar  (the  manuscript  here  has  “Snevar”),  Solar  and  Orkning 

[  509  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Blithe  was  the  shield-tree,  the  brother  of 
Kostbera  ; 

The  fair-decked  ones  followed,  till  the  fjord  di¬ 
vided  them, 

Full  hard  did  they  plead,  but  the  others  would 
hear  not. 

29.  Then  did  Glaumvor  speak  forth,  the  wife  of 

Gunnar, 

To  Vingi  she  said  that  which  wise  to  her  seemed : 
“I  know  not  if  well  thou  requitest  our  welcome, 
Full  ill  was  thy  coming  if  evil  shall  follow.” 

30.  Then  did  Vingi  swear,  and  full  glib  was  his 

speech, 

“May  giants  now  take  me  if  lies  I  have  told  ye, 
And  the  gallows  if  hostile  thought  did  I  have.” 

31.  Then  did  Bera  speak  forth,  and  fair  was  her 

thought, 


appear  only  in  this  poem  and  in  the  prose  narratives  based  on  it. 
Lines  2-3  may  have  been  expanded  out  of  one  line,  or  possibly 
line  3  is  spurious.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  beginning 
a  new  stanza,  and  many  editions  make  a  separate  stanza  out  of 
lines  4-5,  many  of  them  assuming  the  loss  of  two  lines.  Shield- 
tree:  warrior  (Orkning),  here  identified  as  Kostbera’s  brother. 
Fair-decked  ones:  women,  i.e.,  Glaumvor  and  Kostbera.  Fjord: 
perhaps  specifically  the  Limafjord  mentioned  in  stanza  4. 

30.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap.  Grundtvig  inserts  (line 
2)  :  “The  evil  was  clear  when  his  words  he  uttered.” 

31.  Bera:  Kostbera;  the  first  element  in  compound  feminine 

[510] 


Atlamol 


“May  ye  sail  now  happy,  and  victory  have, 

To  fare  as  I  bid  ye,  may  nought  your  way  bar.” 

32.  Then  Hogni  made  answer, —  dear  held  he  his 

kin, — 

“Take  courage,  ye  wise  ones,  whatsoever  may 
come ; 

Though  many  may  speak,  yet  is  evil  oft  mighty, 
And  words  avail  little  to  lead  one  homeward.” 

33.  They  tenderly  looked  till  each  turned  on  his  way, 
Then  with  changing  fate  were  their  farings 

divided. 

34.  Full  stoutly  they  rowed,  and  the  keel  clove 

asunder, 

Their  backs  strained  at  the  oars,  and  their  strength 
was  fierce; 


proper  names  was  not  infrequently  omitted ;  cf.  Hild  for  Brynhild 
( Helreith  Brynhildar,  6).  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap; 
Grundtvig  inserts  (line  2):  “And  clear  was  her  cry  to  her 
kinsmen  dear.” 

32.  Hogni’s  method  of  cheering  his  wife  and  sister-in-law  is 
somewhat  unusual,  for  the  meaning  of  lines  3-4  is  that  good 
wishes  and  blessings  are  of  little  use  in  warding  off  danger. 

33.  Perhaps  two  lines  have  been  lost  after  line  2;  Grundtvig 
supplies:  “Then  weeping  did  Glaumvor  go  to  her  rest-bed, 
/  And  sadly  did  Bera  her  spinning  wheel  seek.” 

34.  Keel ,  etc.:  in  the  Nibelungenlied,  and  presumably  in  the 
older  German  tradition,  Hagene  breaks  his  oar  steering  the  Bur¬ 
gundians  across  the  Danube  (stanza  1564),  and,  after  all  have 
landed,  splinters  the  boat  (stanza  1581)  in  order  that  there  may 
be  no  retreating.  The  poet  here  seems  to  have  confused  the  story, 

[511] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  oar-loops  were  burst,  the  thole-pins  were 
broken, 

Nor  the  ship  made  they  fast  ere  from  her  they 
fared. 

35.  Not  long  was  it  after —  the  end  must  I  tell — 

That  the  home  they  beheld  that  Buthli  once  had ; 
Loud  the  gates  resounded  when  Hogni  smote 

them ; 

Vingi  spake  then  a  word  that  were  better  unsaid : 

36.  “Go  ye  far  from  the  house,  for  false  is  its  en¬ 

trance, 

Soon  shall  I  burn  you,  ye  are  swiftly  smitten; 

I  bade  ye  come  fairly,  but  falseness  was  under, 
Now  bide  ye  afar  while  your  gallows  I  fashion.” 

37.  Then  Hogni  made  answer,  his  heart  yielded  little, 


connecting  the  breaking  of  the  ship’s  keel  with  the  violence  of 
the  rowing,  but  echoing  the  older  legend  in  the  last  line,  wherein 
the  ship  is  allowed  to  drift  away  after  the  travellers  have  landed. 
Oar-loops :  the  thongs  by  which  the  oars  in  a  Norse  boat  were 
made  fast  to  the  thole-pins,  the  combination  taking  the  place  of 
the  modern  oarlock. 

35.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  beginning  a  new 
stanza,  and  many  editions  combine  it  with  stanza  36,  some  of 
them  assuming  the  loss  of  a  line  from  stanza  35.  In  the  Vol- 
sungasaga  paraphrase  the  second  half  of  line  4  is  made  a  part 
of  Vingi’s  speech:  “Better  had  ye  left  this  undone.” 

36.  Cf.  note  on  preceding  stanza;  the  manuscript  does  not 
indicate  line  1  as  beginning  a  stanza.  Line  3  may  be  spurious. 

37.  In  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase  the  second  half  of  line  1 
and  the  first  half  of  line  2  are  included  in  Hogni’s  speech. 

[512] 


Atlamol 


And  nought  did  he  fear  that  his  fate  held  in 
store : 

“Seek  not  to  affright  us,  thou  shalt  seldom  suc¬ 
ceed  ; 

If  thy  words  are  more,  then  the  worse  grows  thy 
fate.” 

38.  Then  Vingi  did  they  smite,  and  they  sent  him  to 

hell, 

With  their  axes  they  clove  him  while  the  death- 
rattle  came. 

39.  Atli  summoned  his  men,  in  mail-coats  they 

hastened, 

All  ready  they  came,  and  between  was  the  court¬ 
yard. 

%  &  ^  % 

40.  Then  came  they  to  words,  and  full  wrathful  they 

were: 


38.  Possibly  two  lines  have  been  lost  after  line  3. 

39.  It  is  probable  that  a  considerable  passage  has  been  lost 
between  stanzas  39  and  40,  for  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase  in¬ 
cludes  a  dialogue  at  this  point.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap, 
and  most  editions  combine  stanzas  39  and  40  as  a  single  stanza. 
The  prose  passage,  indicating  the  substance  of  what,  if  any¬ 
thing,  is  lost,  runs  as  follows:  “  ‘Be  welcome  among  us,  and  give 
me  that  store  of  gold  which  is  ours  by  right,  the  gold  that  Sigurth 
had,  and  that  now  belongs  to  Guthrun.’  Gunnar  said:  ‘Never 
shalt  thou  get  that  gold,  and  men  of  might  shalt  thou  find  here, 
ere  we  give  up  our  lives,  if  it  is  battle  thou  dost  offer  us;  in 
truth  it  seems  that  thou  hast  prepared  this  feast  in  kingly  fashion, 

[513] 


Poetic  Edda 


“Long  since  did  we  plan  how  soon  we  might  slay 
>> 

you. 

Hogni  spake: 

41.  “Little  it  matters  if  long  ye  have  planned  it; 

For  unarmed  do  ye  wait,  and  one  have  we  felled, 
We  smote  him  to  hell,  of  your  host  was  he  once.” 

42.  Then  wild  was  their  anger  when  all  heard  his 

words; 

Their  fingers  were  swift  on  their  bowstrings  to 
seize, 

Full  sharply  they  shot,  by  their  shields  were  they 
guarded. 

43.  In  the  house  came  the  word  how  the  heroes  with¬ 

out 


and  with  little  grudging  toward  eagle  and  wolf.’  ”  The  demand 
for  the  treasure  likewise  appears  in  the  Nibelungenlied. 

40.  These  two  lines,  which  most  editions  combine  with  stanza 
39,  may  be  the  first  or  last  two  of  a  four-line  stanza.  The  Vol- 
sungasaga  gives  Atli’s  speech  very  much  as  it  appears  here. 

41.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker;  Grundtvig 
adds  as  a  first  line:  “Then  Hogni  laughed  loud  where  the  slain 
Vingi  lay.”  Many  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line  somewhere 
in  the  stanza.  Unarmed:  Hogni  does  not  see  Atli’s  armed  fol¬ 
lowers,  who  are  on  the  other  side  of  the  courtyard  (stanza  39). 
One:  Vingi. 

42.  Most  editors  assume  the  loss  of  one  line,  after  either  line 
1  or  line  3. 

43.  The  manuscript  reading  of  lines  1-2,  involving  a  metrical 
error,  is:  “In  the  house  came  the  word  of  the  warring 
without,  /  Loud  in  front  of  the  hall  they  heard  a  thrall 
shouting.”  Some  editors  assume  a  gap  of  two  lines  after  line 

[514] 


Atlamol 

Fought  in  front  of  the  hall;  they  heard  a  thrall 
tell  it; 

Grim  then  was  Guthrun,  the  grief  when  she 
heard, 

With  necklaces  fair,  and  she  flung  them  all  from 
her, 

(The  silver  she  hurled  so  the  rings  burst  asunder.) 

44.  Then  out  did  she  go,  she  flung  open  the  doors, 
All  fearless  she  went,  and  the  guests  did  she 

welcome ; 

To  the  Niflungs  she  went —  her  last  greeting  it 
was, — 

In  her  speech  truth  was  clear,  and  much  would 
she  speak. 

45.  “For  your  safety  I  sought  that  at  home  ye  should 

stay  ; 

None  escapes  his  fate,  so  ye  hither  must  fare.” 
Full  wisely  she  spake,  if  yet  peace  they  might  win, 


2,  the  missing  passage  giving  the  words  of  the  thrall.  The 
manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza,  and  many 
editions  make  a  separate  stanza  of  lines  3-5,  some  of  them 
assuming  the  loss  of  a  line  after  line  3.  With  the  stanza  as  here 
given,  line  5  may  well  be  spurious. 

44.  Niflungs:  regarding  the  application  of  this  term  to  the 
Burgundians  cf.  Atlakvitha,  11,  and  Brot,  17,  and  notes.  The 
manuscript  here  spells  the  name  with  an  initial  N,  as  elsewhere, 
but  in  stanza  83  the  son  of  Hogni  appears  with  the  name 
“Hniflung.”  In  consequence,  some  editors  change  the  form  in 
this  stanza  to  “Hniflungs,”  while  others  omit  the  initial  H  in 
both  cases.  I  have  followed  the  manuscript,  though  admittedly 
its  spelling  is  illogical. 


[515] 


Poetic  Edda 


But  to  nought  would  they  hearken,  and  “No” 
said  they  all. 

46.  Then  the  high-born  one  saw  that  hard  was  their 

battle, 

In  fierceness  of  heart  she  flung  off  her  mantle ; 
Her  naked  sword  grasped  she  her  kin’s  lives  to 
guard, 

Not  gentle  her  hands  in  the  hewing  of  battle. 

47.  Then  the  daughter  of  Gjuki  two  warriors  smote 

down, 

Atli’s  brother  she  slew,  and  forth  then  they  bore 
him ; 

( So  fiercely  she  fought  that  his  feet  she  clove  off ; ) 
Another  she  smote  so  that  never  he  stood, 

To  hell  did  she  send  him, —  her  hands  trembled 

never. 


46.  The  warlike  deeds  of  Guthrun  represent  an  odd  trans¬ 
formation  of  the  German  tradition.  Kriemhild,  although  she 
did  no  actual  fighting  in  the  Nibelungenlied,  was  famed  from 
early  times  for  her  cruelty  and  fierceness  of  heart,  and  this  seems 
to  have  inspired  the  poet  of  the  Atlamol  to  make  his  Guthrun 
into  a  warrior  outdoing  Brynhild  herself.  Kriemhild’s  ferocity, 
of  course,  was  directed  against  Gunther  and  especially  Hagene, 
for  whose  slaying  she  rather  than  Etzel  was  responsible;  here, 
on  the  other  hand,  Guthrun’s  is  devoted  to  the  defense  of  her 
brothers. 

47.  Line  3  is  very  likely  an  interpolation.  The  manuscript 
marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza,  and  some  editions 
make  a  separate  stanza  of  lines  4-5.  Atli’s  brother:  doubtless  a 
reminiscence  of  the  early  tradition  represented  in  the  Nibelung- 
enlied  by  the  slaying  of  Etzel’s  brother,  Blœdelin  (the  historical 
Bleda),  by  Dancwart. 


[516] 


Atlamol 


48.  Full  wide  was  the  fame  of  the  battle  they  fought, 
’Twas  the  greatest  of  deeds  of  the  sons  of  Gjuki; 
Men  say  that  the  Niflungs,  while  themselves  they 

were  living, 

With  their  swords  fought  mightily,  mail-coats 
they  sundered, 

And  helms  did  they  hew,  as  their  hearts  were 
fearless. 

49.  All  the  morning  they  fought  until  midday  shone, 
(All  the  dusk  as  well  and  the  dawning  of  day,) 
When  the  battle  was  ended,  the  field  flowed  with 

blood ; 

Ere  they  fell,  eighteen  of  their  foemen  were  slain, 
By  the  two  sons  of  Bera  and  her  brother  as  well. 

50.  Then  the  warrior  spake,  and  wild  was  his  anger: 
“This  is  evil  to  see,  and  thy  doing  is  all; 


48.  Line  3  may  well  be  spurious,  for  it  implies  that  Gunnar 
and  Hogni  were  killed  in  battle,  whereas  they  were  taken 
prisoners.  Some  editors,  in  an  effort  to  smooth  out  the  incon¬ 
sistency,  change  “themselves”  in  this  line  to  “sound.”  Line  5 
has  also  been  questioned  as  possibly  interpolated.  Niflungs: 
on  the  spelling  of  this  name  in  the  manuscript  and  the  various 
editions  cf.  note  on  stanza  44. 

49.  Line  2  is  probably  an  interpolation,  and  the  original 
apparently  lacks  a  word.  There  is  some  obscurity  as  to  the  exact 
meaning  of  lines  4-5.  The  two  sons  of  Bera:  Snævar  and  Solar; 
her  brother  is  Orkning;  cf.  stanza  28. 

50.  The  warrior:  Atli.  Thirty:  perhaps  an  echo  of  the 
“thirty  warriors”  of  Thjothrek  (cf.  Guthrunarkwitlia  III,  5). 
Subtracting  the  eighteen  killed  by  Snævar,  Solar  and  Orkning 
(stanza  49),  and  Vingi,  killed  by  the  whole  company  (stanza 

[517] 


Poetic  Edda 


Once  we  were  thirty,  we  thanes  keen  for  battle, 

Now  eleven  are  left,  and  great  is  our  lack. 

51.  “There  were  five  of  us  brothers  when  Buthli  we 

lost, 

Now  Hel  has  the  half,  and  two  smitten  lie  here ; 
A  great  kinship  had  I, —  the  truth  may  I  hide 

not, — 

From  a  wife  bringing  slaughter  small  joy  could  I 
win. 

52.  We  lay  seldom  together  since  to  me  thou  wast 

given, 

Now  my  kin  all  are  gone,  of  my  gold  am  I 
robbed ; 

Nay,  and  worst,  thou  didst  send  my  sister  to  hell.” 


38),  we  have  eleven  left,  as  Atli  says,  but  this  does  not  allow 
much  for  the  exploits  of  Gunnar  and  Hogni,  who,  by  this 
reckoning,  seem  to  have  killed  nobody.  The  explanation  probably 
is  that  lines  4-5  of  stanza  49  are  in  bad  shape. 

51.  Five  brothers:  the  V olsungasaga  speaks  of  four  (not 
five)  sons  of  Buthli,  but  names  only  Atli.  Regarding  the  death 
of  the  first  two  brothers  cf.  stanza  91  and  note.  The  manuscript 
marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  stanza,  and  many  editions  combine 
lines  3-4  with  stanza  52.  Some  insert  lines  2-3  of  stanza  52  ahead 
of  lines  3-4  of  stanza  51. 

52.  Possibly  a  line  has  been  lost  from  this  stanza.  The  manu¬ 
script  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza,  which  is  impos¬ 
sible  unless  something  has  been  lost.  Gold:  the  meaning  of  this 
half  line  is  somewhat  doubtful,  but  apparently  Atli  refers  to 
Sigurth’s  treasure,  which  should  have  been  his  as  Brynhild’s 
brother.  Sister:  Brynhild;  regarding  Guthrun’s  indirect 
responsibility  for  Brynhild’s  death  cf.  Gripisspo,  45  and  note. 

[518] 


Atlamol 


Guthrun  spake: 

53.  “Hear  me  now,  Atli! 

My  mother  didst  thou 

murder  her, 

My  sister’s  daughter 
A  jest  does  it  seem 
And  good  do  I  find  it 

Atli  spake: 

54.  “Go  now,  ye  warriors, 

grief 

Of  the  woman  so  fair, 

So  fierce  be  thy  warring 
I  would  gladly  behold 

55.  “Seize  ye  now  Hogni, 

hew  him, 

His  heart  shall  ye  cut  out, 
And  grim-hearted  Gunnar 
gallows, 


the  first  evil  was  thine ; 
take,  and  for  gold  didst 

thou  didst  starve  in  a  prison, 
that  thy  sorrow  thou  tellest, 
that  grief  to  thee  comes.” 

and  make  greater  the 

for  fain  would  I  see  it; 
that  Guthrun  shall  weep, 
her  happiness  lost. 

and  with  knives  shall  ye 

this  haste  ye  to  do ; 
shall  ye  bind  on  the 


53.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  The  Volsung- 
asaga  gives  the  speech,  in  somewhat  altered  form,  to  Hogni: 
“Why  speakest  thou  so?  Thou  wast  the  first  to  break  peace; 
thou  didst  take  my  kinswoman  and  starved  her  in  a  prison, 
and  murdered  her  and  took  her  wealth;  that  was  not  kinglike; 
and  laughable  does  it  seem  to  me  that  thou  talkest  of  thy  sorrow, 
and  good  shall  I  find  it  that  all  goes  ill  with  thee.”  This  presum¬ 
ably  represents  the  correct  form  of  the  stanza,  for  nowhere  else 
is  it  intimated  that  Atli  killed  Guthrun’s  mother,  Grimhild,  nor 
is  the  niece  elsewhere  mentioned.  Some  editions  make  a  separate 
stanza  of  lines  4-5,  Grundtvig  adding  a  line  after  line  3  and 
two  more  after  line  5.  Other  editors  are  doubtful  about  the 
authenticity  of  either  line  3  or  line  5. 

54.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker. 

[519] 


Poetic  Edda 


Swift  shall  ye  do  it, 


to  serpents  now  cast  him.” 


Hogni  spake: 

56.  “Do  now  as  thou  wilt,  for  glad  I  await  it, 

Brave  shalt  thou  find  me,  I  have  faced  worse 
before ; 

We  held  thee  at  bay  while  whole  we  were  fight¬ 
ing, 

Now  with  wounds  are  we  spent,  so  thy  will  canst 
thou  work.” 


57.  Then  did  Beiti  speak,  he  was  Atli’s  steward: 

“Let  us  seize  now  H j alii,  and  Hogni  spare  we! 

Let  us  fell  the  sluggard,  he  is  fit  for  death, 

He  has  lived  too  long,  and  lazy  men  call  him.” 

58.  Afraid  was  the  pot-watcher,  he  fled  here  and  yon, 
And  crazed  with  his  terror  he  climbed  in  the 

corners : 


56.  The  text  of  the  first  half  of  line  3  is  somewhat  uncertain, 
but  the  general  meaning  of  it  is  clear  enough. 

57.  Beiti:  not  elsewhere  mentioned.  The  Atlakvitha  version 
of  this  episode  (stanzas  23-25)  does  not  mention  Beiti,  and  in 
the  V olsungasaga  the  advice  to  cut  out  Hjalli’s  heart  instead  of 
Hogni’s  is  given  by  an  unnamed  “counsellor  of  Atli.”  In  the 
Atlakvitha  H  j  alii  is  actually  killed;  the  Volsungasaga  combines 
the  two  versions  by  having  Hj alii  first  let  off  at  Hogni’s  inter¬ 
cession  and  then  seized  a  second  time  and  killed,  thus  intro¬ 
ducing  the  Atlakvitha  episode  of  the  quaking  heart  (stanza  24). 
The  text  of  the  first  half  of  line  3  is  obscure,  and  there  are 
many  and  widely  varying  suggestions  as  to  the  word  here 
rendered  “sluggard.” 

58.  Some  editions  mark  line  5  as  probably  interpolated. 

[  520  ] 


Atlamol 

“Ill  for  me  is  this  fighting,  if  I  pay  for  your 
fierceness, 

And  sad  is  the  day  to  die  leaving  my  swine 

And  all  the  fair  victuals  that  of  old  did  I  have.” 

59.  They  seized  Buthli’s  cook,  and  they  came  with 
the  knife, 

The  frightened  thrall  howled  ere  the  edge  did 
he  feel; 

He  was  willing,  he  cried,  to  dung  well  the  court¬ 
yard, 

Do  the  basest  of  work,  if  spare  him  they  would ; 

Full  happy  were  H j alii  if  his  life  he  might  have. 


60.  Then  fain  was  Hogni —  there  are  few  would  do 

thus — 

To  beg  for  the  slave  that  safe  hence  he  should  go ; 
“I  would  find  it  far  better  this  knife-play  to  feel, 
Why  must  we  all  hark  to  this  howling  longer?” 


61.  Then  the  brave  one  they  seized;  to  the  warriors 
bold 

No  chance  was  there  left  to  delay  his  fate  longer; 
Loud  did  Hogni  laugh,  all  the  sons  of  day  heard 
him, 


59.  Cook:  the  original  word  is  doubtful.  The  V olsungasaga 
does  not  paraphrase  lines  3-5  ;  the  passage  may  be  a  later  addi¬ 
tion,  and  line  5  is  almost  certainly  so. 

61.  It  is  probable  that  a  stanza  describing  the  casting  of 
Gunnar  into  the  serpents’  den  has  been  lost  after  this  stanza. 
Sons  of  day:  the  phrase  means  no  more  than  “men.” 

[521] 


Poetic  Edda 

So  valiant  he  was  that  well  he  could  suffer. 

*  *  *  *■  *  * 

62.  A  harp  Gunnar  seized,  with  his  toes  he  smote  it; 
So  well  did  he  strike  that  the  women  all  wept, 
And  the  men,  when  clear  they  heard  it,  lamented ; 
Full  noble  was  his  song,  the  rafters  burst  asunder. 

63.  Then  the  heroes  died  ere  the  day  was  yet  come; 
Their  fame  did  they  leave  ever  lofty  to  live. 


64.  Full  mighty  seemed  Atli  as  o’er  them  he  stood, 

The  wise  one  he  blamed,  and  his  words  re¬ 
proached  her: 

“It  is  morning,  Guthrun;  now  thy  dear  ones  dost 
miss, 

But  the  blame  is  part  thine  that  thus  it  has 
chanced.” 


62.  Regarding  Gunnar’s  harp-playing,  and  his  death,  cf. 
Oddrunargratr ,  27-30  and  notes,  and  Atlakvitha,  34.  Toes  (lit¬ 
erally  “sole-twigs”)  :  the  V olsungasaga  explains  that  Gunnar’s 
hands  were  bound.  Rafters:  thus  literally,  and  probably  cor¬ 
rectly;  Gering  has  an  ingenious  but  unlikely  theory  that  the 
word  means  “harp.” 

63.  There  is  some  doubt  as  to  the  exact  meaning  of  line  2. 
After  this  line  two  lines  may  have  been  lost;  Grundtvig  adds: 
“Few  braver  shall  ever  be  found  on  the  earth,  /  Or 
loftier  men  in  the  world  ever  live.” 

64.  Wise  one:  Guthrun.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as 
beginning  a  new  stanza. 


[  522  ] 


Atlamol 


Guthrun  spake: 

65.  “Thou  art  joyous,  Atli,  for  of  evil  thou  teilest, 
But  sorrow  is  thine  if  thou  mightest  all  see ; 

Thy  heritage  heavy  here  can  I  tell  thee, 

Sorrow  never  thou  losest  unless  I  shall  die.” 

Atli  spake: 

66.  “Not  free  of  guilt  am  I ;  a  way  shall  I  find 

That  is  better  by  far, —  oft  the  fairest  we 

shunned ; — 

With  slaves  I  console  thee,  with  gems  fair  to  see, 
And  with  silver  snow-white,  as  thyself  thou  shalt 
choose.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

67.  “No  hope  shall  this  give  thee,  thy  gifts  I  shall 

take  not, 

Requital  I  spurned  when  my  sorrows  were 
smaller  ; 

Once  grim  did  I  seem,  but  now  greater  my 
grimness, 

There  was  nought  seemed  too  hard  while  Hogni 
was  living. 


65.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker. 

66.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker.  The  negative 
in  the  first  half  of  line  1  is  uncertain,  and  most  editions  make 
the  clause  read  “Of  this  guilt  I  can  free  myself.”  The  fairest , 
etc.:  i.  e.,  I  have  often  failed  to  do  the  wise  thing. 

67.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  Requital, 
etc.:  it  is  not  clear  just  to  what  Guthrun  refers;  perhaps  she  is 
thinking  of  Sigurth’s  death,  or  possibly  the  poet  had  in  mind 
his  reference  to  the  slaying  of  her  mother  in  stanza  53. 

t  523  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


68.  “Our  childhood  did  we  have  in  a  single  house, 
We  played  many  a  game,  in  the  grove  did  we 
grow; 

Then  did  Grimhild  give  us  gold  and  necklaces; 
Thou  shalt  ne’er  make  amends  for  my  brother’s 
murder, 

Nor  ever  shalt  win  me  to  think  it  was  well. 


69.  “But  the  fierceness  of  men 
The  tree-top  bows  low 
The  tree  bends  over 
under  it; 

Now  mayest  thou,  Atli, 


rules  the  fate  of  women, 
if  bereft  of  its  leaves, 
if  the  roots  are  cleft 

o’er  all  things  here  rule.” 


70.  Full  heedless  the  warrior  was  that  he  trusted  her, 
So  clear  was  her  guile  if  on  guard  he  had  been; 
But  crafty  was  Guthrun,  with  cunning  she  spake, 
Her  glance  she  made  pleasant,  with  two  shields 
she  played. 


68.  Line  5  is  very  probably  a  later  addition,  though  some 
editors  question  line  3  instead. 

69.  Guthrun  suddenly  changes  her  tone  in  order  to  make  Atli 
believe  that  she  is  submissive  to  his  will,  and  thus  to  gain  time 
for  her  vengeance.  Line  2  in  the  original  is  thoroughly  obscure; 
it  runs  literally:  “On  the  knee  goes  the  fist  if  the  twigs  are 
taken  off.”  Perhaps  the  word  meaning  “fist”  may  also  have 
meant  “tree-top,”  as  Gering  suggests,  or  perhaps  the  line  is 
an  illogical  blending  of  the  ideas  contained  in  lines  1  and  3. 

70.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a 
new  stanza.  Two  shields,  etc.:  i.  e.,  Guthrun  concealed  her  hos¬ 
tility  (symbolized  by  a  red  shield,  cf.  Helgakvitha  Htindings- 
bana  I,  34)  by  a  show  of  friendliness  (a  white  shield). 

[  524  ] 


Atlamol 


7 1 .  The  beer  then  she  brought  for  her  brothers’  death- 

feast, 

And  a  feast  Atli  made  for  his  followers  dead ; 

No  more  did  they  speak,  the  mead  was  made 
ready, 

Soon  the  men  were  gathered  with  mighty  uproar. 

72.  Thus  bitterly  planned  she,  and  Buthli’s  race 

threatened, 

And  terrible  vengeance  on  her  husband  would 
take ; 

The  little  ones  called  she,  on  a  block  she  laid 
them ; 

Afraid  were  the  proud  ones,  but  their  tears  did 
not  fall; 

To  their  mother’s  arms  went  they,  and  asked 
what  she  would. 

Guthrun  spake: 

73.  “Nay,  ask  me  no  more!  You  both  shall  I  murder, 


71.  Many  editions  make  a  separate  stanza  of  lines  1-2,  some 
of  them  suggesting  the  loss  of  two  lines,  and  combine  lines 
3-4  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  72.  The  manuscript  marks  both 
lines  1  and  3  as  beginning  stanzas. 

72.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza; 
some  editions  make  a  separate  stanza  of  lines  3-5,  while  others 
combine  them  with  lines  1-2  of  stanza  73.  Line  2  in  the  original 
is  clearly  defective,  the  verb  being  omitted.  The  meaning  of 
line  3  is  uncertain;  the  Volsungasaga  paraphrase  has:  “At 
evening  she  took  the  sons  of  King  Atli  (Erp  and  Eitil)  where 
they  were  playing  with  a  block  of  wood.”  Probably  the  text  of 
the  line  as  we  have  it  is  faulty.  Lines  4-5  may  possibly  have 
been  expanded  out  of  a  single  line,  or  line  5  may  be  spurious. 

[  525  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


For  long  have  I  wished  your  lives  to  steal  from 
you. 

The  boys  spake : 

“Slay  thy  boys  as  thou  wilt,  for  no  one  may 
bar  it, 

Short  the  angry  one’s  peace  if  all  thou  shalt  do.” 

74.  Then  the  grim  one  slew  both  of  the  brothers 

young, 

Full  hard  was  her  deed  when  their  heads  she 
smote  off; 

Fain  was  Atli  to  know  whither  now  they  were 
gone, 

The  boys  from  their  sport,  for  nowhere  he  spied 
them. 

Guthrun  spake: 

75.  “My  fate  shall  I  seek,  all  to  Atli  saying, 

The  daughter  of  Grimhild  the  deed  from  thee 
hides  not ; 

No  joy  thou  hast,  Atli,  if  all  thou  shalt  hear, 

Great  sorrow  didst  wake  when  my  brothers  thou 
slewest. 

73.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speakers.  It  indi¬ 
cates  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza,  in  which  it  is  followed 
by  many  editions.  The  V olsungasaga  paraphrases  line  4  thus: 
“But  it  is  shameful  for  thee  to  do  this.”  Either  the  text  of  the 
line  has  been  changed  or  the  V olsungasaga  compilers  misunder¬ 
stood  it.  The  angry  one:  Atli. 

74.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  beginning  a  new 
stanza. 

75.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speaker. 

[  526  ] 


Atlamol 


76.  “I  have  seldom  slept  since  the  hour  they  were 

slain, 

Baleful  were  my  threats,  now  I  bid  thee  recall 
them ; 

Thou  didst  say  it  was  morning, —  too  well  I 

remember, — 

Now  is  evening  come,  and  this  question  thou 
askest. 

77.  “Now  both  of  thy  sons  thou  hast  lost  .  .  . 

.  as  thou  never  shouldst  do ; 

The  skulls  of  thy  boys  thou  as  beer-cups  didst 

have, 

And  the  draught  that  I  made  thee  was  mixed  with 
their  blood. 

78.  “I  cut  out  their  hearts,  on  a  spit  I  cooked  them, 
I  came  to  thee  with  them,  and  calf’s  flesh  I  called 

them ; 

Alone  didst  thou  eat  them,  nor  any  didst  leave, 


76.  Morning:  Guthrun  refers  to  Adi’s  taunt  in  stanza  64. 

77.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap  (lines  1-2),  and  most 
editions  make  a  single  line,  despite  the  defective  meter:  “Thy 
sons  hast  thou  lost  as  thou  never  shouldst  lose  them.”  The 
second  part  of  line  2  is  in  the  original  identical  with  the  second 
half  of  line  3  of  stanza  80,  and  may  perhaps  have  been  inserted 
here  by  mistake.  Skulls:  it  is  possible  that  line  3  was  borrowed 
from  a  poem  belonging  to  the  Volund  tradition  (cf.  Völundar- 
kvitha,  25  and  37),  and  the  idea  doubtless  came  from  some  such 
source,  but  probably  the  poet  inserted  it  in  a  line  of  his  own 
composition  to  give  an  added  touch  of  horror.  The  V olsungasaga 
follows  the  Atlamol  in  including  this  incident. 

[  527  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Thou  didst  greedily  bite,  and  thy  teeth  were  busy. 

79.  “Of  thy  sons  now  thou  knowest;  few  suffer  more 

sorrow ; 

My  guilt  have  I  told,  fame  it  never  shall  give 
me.” 

A  tit  spake: 

80.  “Grim  wast  thou,  Guthrun,  in  so  grievous  a  deed, 

My  draught  with  the  blood  of  thy  boys  to  mingle ; 

Thou  hast  slain  thine  own  kin,  most  ill  it  be¬ 
seemed  thee, 

And  little  for  me  twixt  my  sorrows  thou  leavest.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

81.  “Still  more  would  I  seek 
Enough  ill  comes  seldom 
Thou  didst  folly  of  old, 

find 


78.  Some  editions  add  lines  3-4  to  stanza  79;  Finnur  Jonsson 
marks  them  as  probably  spurious. 

79.  Perhaps  these  two  lines  should  form  part  of  stanza  78, 
or  perhaps  they,  rather  than  lines  3-4  of  stanza  78,  are  a  later 
addition.  A  gap  of  two  lines  after  line  1  has  also  been  con¬ 
jectured. 

80.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker. 

81.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  Lines  1-2 
may  be  the  remains  of  a  separate  stanza;  Grundtvig  adds:  “Thou 
wast  foolish,  Atli,  when  wise  thou  didst  feel,  /  Ever  the 
whole  of  thy  race  did  I  hate.”  The  V olsungasaga  para¬ 
phrase,  however,  indicates  no  gap.  Many  editions  make  a 
separate  stanza  of  lines  3-6,  which,  in  the  V olsungasaga,  are 
paraphrased  as  a  speech  of  Atli’s.  Lines  5-6  may  be  spurious. 

[  528  ] 


to  slay  thee  thyself, 
to  such  as  thou  art; 
such  that  no  one  shall 


Atlamol 

In  the  whole  world  of  men  a  match  for  such 
madness. 

Now  this  that  of  late  we  learned  hast  thou  added, 
Great  evil  hast  grasped,  and  thine  own  death- 
feast  made.” 

Atli  spake : 

82.  “With  fire  shall  they  burn  thee,  and  first  shall 

they  stone  thee, 

So  then  hast  thou  earned  what  thou  ever  hast 
sought  for.” 

Guthrun  spake : 

“Such  woes  for  thyself  shalt  thou  say  in  the  morn¬ 
ing, 

From  a  finer  death  I  to  another  light  fare.” 

83.  Together  they  sat  and  full  grim  were  their 

thoughts, 

Unfriendly  their  words,  and  no  joy  either  found; 
In  Hniflung  grew  hatred,  great  plans  did  he 
have, 

To  Guthrun  his  anger  against  Atli  was  told. 


82.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speakers.  Many 
editions  make  two  separate  stanzas  of  the  four  lines.  Another 
light:  a  fairly  clear  indication  of  the  influence  of  Christianity; 
cf.  Introductory  Note. 

83.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stanza.  Hniflung:  the  V olsungasaga  says  that  “Hogni  had  a  son 
who  was  called  Hniflung,”  but  the  name  appears  to  be  nothing 
more  than  the  familiar  “Niflung”  applied  in  general  to  the  sons 
of  Gjuki  and  their  people.  On  the  spelling  cf.  note  on  stanza  44. 

[  529  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


84.  To  her  heart  came  ever  the  fate  of  Hogni, 

She  told  him  ’twere  well  if  he  vengeance  should 
win; 

So  was  Atli  slain, —  ’twas  not  slow  to  await, — 

Hogni’s  son  slew  him,  and  Guthrun  herself. 

85.  Then  the  warrior  spake,  as  from  slumber  he 

wakened, 

Soon  he  knew  for  his  wounds  would  the  bandage 
do  nought: 

“Now  the  truth  shalt  thou  say:  who  has  slain 

Buthli’s  son? 

Full  sore  am  I  smitten,  nor  hope  can  I  see.” 
Guthrun  spake: 

86.  “Ne’er  her  deed  from  thee  hides  the  daughter  of 

Grimhild, 


This  son  of  Hogni  appears  in  later  versions  of  the  story.  In  the 
Thithrekssaga  he  is  called  Aldrian,  and  is  begotten  by  Hogni 
the  night  before  his  death.  Aldrian  grows  up  and  finally  shuts 
Attila  in  a  cave  where  he  starves  to  death.  The  poet  here  has 
incorporated  the  idea,  which  finds  no  parallel  in  the  Atlakvitha, 
without  troubling  himself  to  straighten  out  the  chronology. 

84.  Line  4  may  be  in  Fornyrthislag,  and  from  another  poem. 

85.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 
The  V olsungasaga  makes  line  2  part  of  Atli’s  speech. 

86.  The  manuscript  does  not  name  the  speakers.  It  marks  line 
4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza,  and  many  editions  follow 
this  arrangement,  in  most  cases  making  a  stanza  of  lines  4-5 
and  line  1  of  stanza  87.  However,  line  1  may  well  have  been 
interpolated  here  from  stanza  75.  Grundtvig  adds  after  line  3: 
“His  father  he  avenged,  and  his  kinsmen  fully.”  Some 
editors  assume  the  loss  of  one  or  two  lines  after  line  5. 

[  530  ] 


Atlamol 


I  own  to  the  guilt  that  is  ending  thy  life, 

And  the  son  of  Hogni;  ’tis  so  thy  wounds  bleed.” 

A  tli  spake: 

“To  murder  hast  thou  fared,  though  foul  it  must 
seem ; 

Ill  thy  friend  to  betray  who  trusted  thee  well. 

87.  “Not  glad  went  I  hence  thy  hand  to  seek, 

Guthrun, 

In  thy  widowhood  famed,  but  haughty  men  found 
thee ; 

My  belief  did  not  lie,  as  now  we  have  learned ; 
I  brought  thee  home  hither,  and  a  host  of  men 
with  us. 

88.  “Most  noble  was  all  when  of  old  we  journeyed, 
Great  honor  did  we  have  of  heroes  full  worthy; 
Of  cattle  had  we  plenty,  and  greatly  we  pros¬ 
pered, 

Mighty  was  our  wealth,  and  many  received  it. 

89.  “To  the  famed  one  as  bride-gift  I  gave  jewels 

fair, 


87.  The  manuscript  marks  line  2  as  beginning  a  new  stanza, 
and  some  editions  make  a  stanza  out  of  lines  2-4  and  line  1  of 
stanza  88. 

88.  The  manuscript  marks  line  2  as  the  beginning  of  a  stanza, 
and  many  editions  make  a  stanza  out  of  lines  2-4,  or  combine 
them  with  stanza  89.  Some  question  the  genuineness  of  line  4. 

89.  Many  editions  assume  a  gap  of  one  line  after  line  3 ; 

[531] 


Poetic  Edda 


I  gave  thirty  slaves,  and  handmaidens  seven  ; 
There  was  honor  in  such  gifts,  yet  the  silver  was 
greater. 

90.  “But  all  to  thee  was  as  if  nought  it  were  worth, 
While  the  land  lay  before  thee  that  Buthli  had 

left  me; 

Thou  in  secret  didst  work  so  the  treasure  I  won 
not; 

My  mother  full  oft  to  sit  weeping  didst  make, 
No  wedded  joy  found  I  in  fullness  of  heart.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

91.  “Thou  liest  now,  Atli,  though  little  I  heed  it; 


Grundtvig  adds:  “Bit-champing  horses  and  wheel-wagons 
bright.”  Line  4  may  be  spurious.  Greater:  i.  e.,  the  silver  which 
Atli  gave  Guthrun  was  of  greater  value  even  than  the  honor  of 
receiving  such  royal  gifts.  Line  4  may  be  spurious. 

90.  Some  editions  mark  line  3  as  spurious  or  defective.  The 
manuscript  marks  line  4  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  stanza.  The 
land,  etc.:  there  is  much  obscurity  as  to  the  significance  of  this 
line.  Some  editors  omit  or  question  “me,”  in  which  case  Atli  is 
apparently  reproaching  Guthrun  for  having  incited  him  to  fight 
with  his  brothers  to  win  for  himself  the  whole  of  Buthli’s  land. 
In  stanza  91  Guthrun  denies  that  she  was  to  blame  for  Atli’s 
quarrels  with  his  brothers.  The  Volsungasaga  reading  supports 
this  interpretation.  The  historical  Attila  did  actually  have  his 
brother,  Bleda,  killed  in  order  to  have  the  sole  rule.  The 
treasure:  Sigurth’s  hoard,  which  Atli  claimed  as  the  brother  of 
Brynhild  and  husband  of  Guthrun,  Sigurth’s  widow,  but  which 
Gunnar  and  Hogni  kept  for  themselves,  with,  as  Atli  here 
charges,  Guthrun’s  connivance.  My  mother:  the  only  other 
reference  to  Atli’s  mother  is  in  Oddrunargratr,  30,  wherein  she 
appears  as  the  adder  who  stings  Gunnar  to  death,  and  in  the 
prose  passages  based  on  that  stanza. 

[  532  ] 


Atlamol 


If  I  seldom  was  kindly,  full  cruel  wast  thou; 

Ye  brothers  fought  young,  quarrels  brought  you 
to  battle, 

And  half  went  to  hell  of  the  sons  of  thy  house, 
And  all  was  destroyed  that  should  e’er  have  done 
good. 

92.  “  My  two  brothers  and  I  were  bold  in  our 

thoughts, 

From  the  land  we  went  forth,  with  Sigurth  we 
fared ; 

Full  swiftly  we  sailed,  each  one  steering  his  ship, 
So  our  fate  sought  we  e’er  till  we  came  to  the 
East. 

93.  “First  the  king  did  we  slay,  and  the  land  we 

seized, 


91.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  It  marks 
both  lines  4  and  5  as  beginning  new  stanzas,  but  line  5  is  pre¬ 
sumably  an  interpolation.  The  text  of  the  second  half  of  line 
2  is  obscure,  and  many  emendations  have  been  suggested.  Ye 
brothers:  cf.  note  on  stanza  90.  Half:  i.  e.,  two  of  Atli’s  brothers 
were  killed,  the  other  two  dying  in  the  battle  with  Gunnar  and 
Hogni;  cf.  stanza  51. 

92.  From  the  land:  this  maritime  expedition  of  Guthrun  and 
her  two  brothers,  Gunnar  and  Hogni  (the  poet  seems  to  know 
nothing  of  her  half-brother,  Gotthorm),  with  Sigurth  seems  to 
have  been  a  pure  invention  of  the  poet’s,  inserted  for  the  benefit 
of  his  Greenland  hearers.  Nothing  further  is  reported  concern¬ 
ing  it. 

93.  The  forest:  i.  e.,  men  who  were  outlawed  in  the  con¬ 
quered  land  were  restored  to  their  rights — another  purely  Norse 
touch. 


[  533  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


The  princes  did  us  service,  for  such  was  their 
fear  ; 

From  the  forest  we  called  them  we  fain  would 
have  guiltless, 

And  rich  made  we  many  who  of  all  were  bereft. 

94.  “Slain  was  the  Hun-king,  soon  happiness  van¬ 

ished, 

In  her  grief  the  widow  so  young  sat  weeping; 
Yet  worse  seemed  the  sorrow  to  seek  Atli’s 
house, 

A  hero  was  my  husband,  and  hard  was  his  loss. 

95.  “From  the  Thing  thou  camst  never,  for  thus  have 

we  heard, 

Having  won  in  thy  quarrels,  or  warriors  smitten ; 
Full  yielding  thou  wast,  never  firm  was  thy  will, 
In  silence  didst  suffer,  . ” 

Atli  spake: 

96.  “Thou  liest  now,  Guthrun,  but  little  of  good 

94.  Hurt-king:  Sigurth,  though  most  illogically  so  called;  cf. 
Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  4  and  note.  The  V olsungasaga 
paraphrase  of  line  2  is  so  remote  as  to  be  puzzling:  “It  was 
little  to  bear  the  name  of  widow.”  Perhaps,  however,  the  word 
“not”  fell  out  between  “was”  and  “little.” 

95.  Thing,  etc.:  here  the  poet  makes  Atli  into  a  typical  Norse 
land-owner,  going  to  the  “Thing,”  or  general  law  council,  to 
settle  his  disputes.  Even  the  compilers  of  the  V olsungasaga  could 
not  accept  this,  and  in  their  paraphrase  changed  “Thing”  to 
“battle.”  The  text  of  the  second  half  of  line  2  is  uncertain.  The 
manuscript  leaves  a  blank  to  indicate  the  gap  in  line  4;  Grund- 
tvig  adds:  “as  beseems  not  a  king.” 

[534] 


Atlamol 


Will  it  bring  to  either,  for  all  have  we  lost; 

But,  Guthrun,  yet  once  be  thou  kindly  of  will, 
For  the  honor  of  both,  when  forth  I  am  borne.” 

Guthrun  spake: 

97.  “A  ship  will  I  buy,  and  a  bright-hued  coffin, 

I  will  wax  well  the  shroud  to  wind  round  thy 
body, 

For  all  will  I  care  as  if  dear  were  we  ever.” 

98.  Then  did  Atli  die,  and  his  heirs’  grief  doubled; 
The  high-born  one  did  as  to  him  she  had 

promised ; 

Then  sought  Guthrun  the  wise  to  go  to  her  death, 
But  for  days  did  she  wait,  and  ’twas  long  ere  she 
died. 

99.  Full  happy  shall  he  be  who  such  offspring  has, 
Or  children  so  gallant,  as  Gjuki  begot; 

Forever  shall  live,  and  in  lands  far  and  wide, 
Their  valor  heroic  wherever  men  hear  it. 


97.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker.  Many 
editors  assume  a  gap  either  before  or  after  line  1.  A  ship:  the 
burial  of  Norse  chiefs  in  ships  was  of  frequent  occurrence,  but 
the  Greenland  poet’s  application  of  the  custom  to  Atli  is  some¬ 
what  grotesque. 

98.  Heirs,  etc.:  merely  a  stock  phrase,  here  quite  meaningless, 
as  Atli’s  heirs  had  all  been  killed.  Long:  cf.  Guthrunarhvot, 
introductory  prose. 


[  535  ] 


GUTHRUNARHVOT 

Guthruri s  Inciting 

Introductory  Note 

The  two  concluding  poems  in  the  Codex  Regius,  the  Guthrun¬ 
arhvot  (Guthrun’ s  Inciting)  and  the  Hamthesmol  ( The  Ballad 
of  Hamther) ,  belong  to  a  narrative  cycle  connected  with  those  of 
Sigurth,  the  Burgundians,  and  Atli  (cf.  Gripisspo,  introductory 
note)  by  only  the  slenderest  of  threads.  Of  the  three  early  his¬ 
torical  kings  who  gradually  assumed  a  dominant  place  in  Ger¬ 
manic  legend,  Ermanarich,  king  of  the  East  Goths  in  the  middle 
of  the  fourth  century,  was  actually  the  least  important,  even 
though  Jordanes,  the  sixth  century  author  of  De  Rebus  Getecis, 
compared  him  to  Alexander  the  Great.  Memories  of  his  cruelty 
and  of  his  tragic  death,  however,  persisted  along  with  the  real 
glories  of  Theoderich,  a  century  and  a  half  later,  and  of  the 
conquests  of  Attila,  whose  lifetime  approximately  bridged  the 
gap  between  Ermanarich’s  death  and  Theoderich’s  birth. 

Chief  among  the  popular  tales  of  Ermanarich’s  cruelty  was 
one  concerning  the  death  of  a  certain  Sunilda  or  Sanielh,  whom, 
according  to  Jordanes,  he  caused  to  be  torn  asunder  by  wild 
horses  because  of  her  husband’s  treachery.  Her  brothers,  Sarus 
and  Ammius,  seeking  to  avenge  her,  wounded  but  failed  to  kill 
Ermanarich.  In  this  story  is  the  root  of  the  two  Norse  poems 
included  in  the  Codex  Regius.  Sunilda  easily  became  the  wife  as 
well  as  the  victim  of  the  tyrant,  and,  by  the  process  of  legend¬ 
blending  so  frequently  observed,  the  story  was  connected  with 
the  more  famous  one  of  the  Nibelungs  by  making  her  the  daugh¬ 
ter  of  Sigurth  and  Guthrun.  To  account  for  her  brothers,  a  third 
husband  had  to  be  found  for  Guthrun;  the  Sarus  and  Ammius  of 
Jordanes  are  obviously  the  Sorli  and  Hamther,  sons  of  Guthrun 
and  Jonak,  of  the  Norse  poems.  The  blending  of  the  Sigurth  and 
Ermanarich  legends  probably,  though  not  certainly,  took  place 
before  the  story  reached  the  North,  in  other  words  before  the  end 
of  the  eighth  century. 

Regarding  the  exact  status  of  the  Guthrunarhvot  and  the 
Hamthesmol  there  has  been  a  great  deal  of  discussion.  That  they 
are  closely  related  is  obvious;  indeed  the  first  parts  of  the  two 
poems  are  nearly  identical  in  content  and  occasionally  so  in  actual 
diction.  The  annotator,  in  his  concluding  prose  note,  refers  to 

[  536  ] 


Guthrunarhvot 


the  second  poem  as  the  “old”  ballad  of  Hamther,  wherefore  it 
has  been  assumed  by  some  critics  that  the  composer  of  the  Guth¬ 
runarhvot  used  the  Hamthesmol,  approximately  as  it  now  stands, 
as  the  source  of  part  of  his  material.  The  extant  Hamthesmol, 
however,  is  almost  certainly  a  patchwork;  part  of  it  is  in  For- 
nyrthislag  (cf.  Introduction),  including  most  of  the  stanzas 
paralleled  in  the  Guthrunarhvot ,  and  likewise  the  stanza  fol¬ 
lowed  directly  by  the  reference  to  the  “old”  ballad,  while  the 
rest  is  in  Malahattr.  The  most  reasonable  theory,  therefore,  is 
that  there  existed  an  old  ballad  of  Hamther,  all  in  Fornyrthislag, 
from  which  the  composer  of  the  Guthrunarhvot  borrowed  a  few 
stanzas  as  the  introduction  for  his  poem,  and  which  the  composer 
of  the  extant,  or  “new,”  Hamthesmol  likewise  used,  though  far 
more  clumsily. 

The  title  “Guthrunarhvot,”  which  appears  in  the  Codex 
Regius ,  really  applies  only  to  stanzas  i -8,  all  presumably  bor¬ 
rowed  from  the  “old”  ballad  of  Hamther.  The  rest  of  the  poem 
is  simply  another  Guthrun  lament,  following  the  tradition  ex¬ 
emplified  by  the  first  and  second  Guthrun  lays;  it  is  possible, 
indeed,  that  it  is  made  up  of  fragments  of  two  separate  laments, 
one  (stanzas  9-18)  involving  the  story  of  Svanhild’s  death,  and 
the  other  (stanzas  19-21)  coming  from  an  otherwise  lost  version 
of  the  story  in  which  Guthrun  closely  follows  Sigurth  and  Bryn- 
hild  in  death.  In  any  event  the  present  title  is  really  a  misnomer; 
the  poet,  who  presumably  was  an  eleventh  century  Icelander, 
used  the  episode  of  Guthrun’s  inciting  her  sons  to  vengeance  for 
the  slaying  of  Svanhild  simply  as  an  introduction  to  his  main 
subject,  the  last  lament  of  the  unhappy  queen. 

The  text  of  the  poem  in  Regius  is  by  no  means  in  good  shape, 
and  editorial  emendations  have  been  many  and  varied,  particu¬ 
larly  in  interchanging  lines  between  the  Guthrunarhvot  and  the 
Hamthesmol.  The  V olsungasaga  paraphrases  the  poem  with  such 
fidelity  as  to  prove  that  it  lay  before  the  compilers  of  the  saga 
approximately  in  its  present  form. 


Guthrun  went  forth  to  the  sea  after  she  had  slain  Atli. 
She  went  out  into  the  sea  and  fain  would  drown  herself, 
but  she  could  not  sink.  The  waves  bore  her  across  the 

[  537  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


fjord  to  the  land  of  King  Jonak;  he  took  her  as  wife; 
their  sons  were  Sorli  and  Erp  and  Hamther.  There  was 
brought  up  Svanhild,  Sigurth’s  daughter;  she  was  mar¬ 
ried  to  the  mighty  Jormunrek.  With  him  was  Bikki,  who 
counselled  that  Randver,  the  king’s  son,  should  have  her. 
This  Bikki  told  to  the  king.  The  king  had  Randver 
hanged,  and  Svanhild  trodden  to  death  under  horses’  feet. 
And  when  Guthrun  learned  this,  she  spake  with  her  sons. 


Prose.  In  the  manuscript  the  prose  is  headed  “Of  Guthrun,” 
the  title  “Guthrunarhvot”  preceding  stanza  i.  The  prose  intro¬ 
duction  is  used  both  by  Snorri  ( Skaldskaparmal ,  chapter  42)  and 
in  the  V olsungasaga.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  on  what 
the  annotator  based  this  note,  for  neither  Bikki  nor  Randver  is 
mentioned  by  name  in  either  the  Guthrunarhvot  or  the  Hamthes- 
mol.  On  the  prose  notes  in  general,  cf.  Reginsmol,  introductory 
note.  Guthrun:  on  the  slaying  of  Atli  by  his  wife,  Guthrun, 
Sigurth’s  widow,  cf.  Atlamol,  83-86  and  notes.  Jonak:  a  Northern 
addition  to  the  legend,  introduced  to  account  for  Svanhild’s  half- 
brothers ;  the  name  is  apparently  of  Slavic  origin.  Sorli,  Erp, 
and  Hamther:  Sorli  and  Hamther  are  the  Sarus  and  Ammius  of 
the  Jordanes  story  (cf.  introductory  note).  The  V olsungasaga 
follows  this  note  in  making  Erp  likewise  a  son  of  Guthrun,  but 
in  the  Hamthesmol  he  is  a  son  of  Jonak  by  another  wife.  Svan¬ 
hild:  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  54  and  note.  Jormunrek 
(Ermanarich)  :  cf.  introductory  note.  Bikki:  the  Sifka  or  Sibicho 
of  the  Gothic  legends  of  Ermanarich,  whose  evil  counsel  always 
brings  trouble.  Randver:  in  the  V olsungasaga  Jormunrek  sends 
his  son  Randver  with  Bikki  to  seek  Svanhild’s  hand.  On  the  voyage 
home  Bikki  says  to  Randver:  “It  were  right  for  you  to  have  so 
fair  a  wife,  and  not  such  an  old  man.”  Randver  was  much 
pleased  with  this  advice,  “and  he  spake  to  her  with  gladness,  and 
she  to  him.”  Thus  the  story  becomes  near  of  kin  to  those  of 
Tristan  and  Iseult  and  Paolo  and  Francesca.  According  to  the 
V olsungasaga,  Bikki  told  Ermanarich  that  a  guilty  love  existed 
between  his  son  and  his  young  wife,  and  presumably  the  anno¬ 
tator  here  meant  as  much  by  his  vague  “this.” 

[  538] 


Guthrunarhvot 


i.  A  word-strife  I  learned,  most  woeful  of  all, 

A  speech  from  the  fullness  of  sorrow  spoken, 
When  fierce  of  heart  her  sons  to  the  fight 
Did  Guthrun  whet  with  words  full  grim. 


2.  “Why  sit  ye  idle, 
Why  grieve  ye  not 
Since  Jormunrek 
Beneath  the  hoofs 
(White  and  black 
Gray,  road-wonted, 


why  sleep  out  your  lives, 
in  gladness  to  speak? 
your  sister  young 
of  horses  hath  trodden, 
on  the  battle-way, 
the  steeds  of  the  Goths.) 


3.  “Not  like  are  ye 
Nor  have  ye  hearts 
Vengeance  for  her 
If  brave  ye  were 
Or  hard  your  hearts 


to  Gunnar  of  yore, 

such  as  Hogni’s  was; 
ye  soon  would  have 
as  my  brothers  of  old, 
as  the  Hunnish  kings’.” 


4.  Then  Hamther  spake,  the  high  of  heart: 
“Little  the  deed  of  Hogni  didst  love, 


1.  The  poet’s  introduction  of  himself  in  this  stanza  is  a  fairly 
certain  indication  of  the  relative  lateness  of  the  poem. 

2.  Idle:  a  guess;  a  word  is  obviously  missing  in  the  original. 
The  manuscript  marks  line  5  as  beginning  a  new  stanza,  and 
lines  5-6  may  well  have  been  inserted  from  another  part  of  the 
“old”  Hamthesmol  (cf.  Hamthesmol,  3). 

3.  Gunnar  and  Hogni:  cf.  Drap  Ni/lunga.  Line  5  may  be  in¬ 
terpolated.  Hunnish:  here  used,  as  often,  merely  as  a  generic 
term  for  all  South  Germanic  peoples;  the  reference  is  to  the 
Burgundian  Gunnar  and  Hogni. 

4.  Hamther:  some  editions  spell  the  name  “Hamthir.”  Sigurth, 
etc.:  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma,  21-24,  and  Brot,  concluding 
prose.  This  stanza  has  been  subjected  to  many  conjectural  re- 

[  539  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


When  Sigurth  they  wakened  from  his  sleep ; 

Thy  bed-covers  white  were  red  with  blood 
Of  thy  husband,  drenched  with  gore  from  his 
heart. 

5.  “Bloody  revenge  didst  have  for  thy  brothers, 
Evil  and  sore,  when  thy  sons  didst  slay ; 


Else  yet  might  we  all 
Together  our  sister’s 

6.  “ . 

The  gear  of  the  Hunnish 
Thou  hast  whetted  us  so 

7.  Laughing  did  Guthrun 
The  helms  of  the  kings 

took, 

And  mail-coats  broad, 

On  their  horses’  backs 

8.  Then  Hamther  spake, 


on  Jormunrek 
laying  avenge. 


kings  now  give  us! 
to  the  battle  of  swords.” 

go  to  her  chamber, 
from  the  cupboards  she 

to  her  sons  she  bore  them ; 
the  heroes  leaped. 

the  high  of  heart: 


arrangements,  some  editors  adding  two  or  three  lines  from  the 
Hamthesmol. 

5.  Bloody:  a  guess;  a  word  in  the  original  is  clearly  missing, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  all  in  line  3.  Thy  sons:  i.e.,  by  killing  her 
sons  Erp  and  Eitil  (cf.  Atlamol,  72-74)  Guthrun  deprived  Ham¬ 
ther,  Sorli,  and  the  second  Erp  of  valuable  allies  in  avenging 
Svanhild’s  death. 

6.  The  manuscript  indicates  no  gap,  but  most  editors  assume 
the  loss  of  one,  two  or  even  more  lines  before  the  two  here  given. 

7.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  4  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 

8.  Line  1,  identical  with  line  1  of  stanza  4,  may  be  interpo- 

[  540] 


Guthrunarhvot 


“Homeward  no  more  his  mother  to  see 
Comes  the  spear-god,  fallen  mid  Gothic  folk; 
One  death-draught  thou  for  us  all  shalt  drink, 
For  Svanhild  then  and  thy  sons  as  well.” 


9.  Weeping  Guthrun, 
Went  sadly  before 
And  with  tear-stained 
Of  her  mighty  griefs, 


Gjuki’s  daughter, 
the  gate  to  sit, 
cheeks  to  tell  the  tale 
so  many  in  kind. 


10.  “Three  home-fires  knew  I,  three  hearths  I  knew, 
Home  was  I  brought  by  husbands  three; 

But  Sigurth  only  of  all  was  dear, 

He  whom  my  brothers  brought  to  his  death. 

11.  “A  greater  sorrow  I  saw  not  nor  knew, 

Yet  more  it  seemed  I  must  suffer  yet 
When  the  princes  great  to  Atli  gave  me. 

12.  “The  brave  boys  I  summoned  to  secret  speech; 
For  my  woes  requital  I  might  not  win 

Till  off  the  heads  of  the  Hniflungs  I  hewed. 


lated  here.  Spear-god :  warrior,  i.e.,  Hamther  himself.  With  this 
stanza  the  introductory  hvot  (“inciting”)  ends,  and  stanza  9 
introduces  the  lament  which  forms  the  real  body  of  the  poem. 

11.  Line  1  in  the  original  is  of  uncertain  meaning.  Many 
editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line  after  line  1,  and  some  completely 
reconstruct  line  1  on  the  basis  of  a  hypothetical  second  line. 
Princes:  Gunnar  and  Hogni. 

12.  Some  editors  assume  the  loss  of  one  line,  or  more,  before 
line  1.  Hniflungs :  Erp  and  Eitil,  the  sons  of  Guthrun  and  Atli. 
On  the  application  of  the  name  Niflung  (or,  as  later  spelt, 

[541  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


13.  “To  the  sea  I  went,  my  heart  full  sore 

For  the  Norns,  whose  wrath  I  would  now  escape; 
But  the  lofty  billows  bore  me  undrowned, 

Till  to  land  I  came,  so  I  longer  must  live. 


14. 


“Then  to  the  bed —  of  old  was  it  better  !- 

Of  a  king  of  the  folk  a  third  time  I  came; 
Boys  I  bore  his  heirs  to  be, 

Heirs  so  young,  the  sons  of  Jonak. 


15.  “But  round  Svanhild  handmaidens  sat, 

She  was  dearest  ever  of  all  my  children; 

So  did  Svanhild  seem  in  my  hall 

As  the  ray  of  the  sun  is  fair  to  see. 

16.  “Gold  I  gave  her  and  garments  bright, 
Ere  I  let  her  go  to  the  Gothic  folk ; 

Of  my  heavy  woes  the  hardest  it  was 
When  Svanhild’s  tresses  fair  were  trodden 
In  the  mire  by  hoofs  of  horses  wild. 


17.  “The  sorest  it  was  when  Sigurth  mine 


Hniflung)  to  the  descendants  of  Gjuki,  Guthrun’s  father,  cf. 
Brot,  1 7,  note. 

13.  Norns:  the  fates;  cf.  Voluspo,  8  and  note. 

14.  The  manuscript  omits  the  first  half  of  line  4. 

16.  Some  editors  assume  a  gap  of  two  lines  after  line  2,  and 
make  a  separate  stanza  of  lines  3-5;  Gering  adds  a  sixth  line  of 
his  own  coining,  while  Grundtvig  inserts  one  between  lines  3  and 
4.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  5  as  beginning  a  new  stanza. 

17.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  line  1  as  beginning  a 
stanza  (cf.  note  on  stanza  16).  Stanzas  17  and  18  are  very  likely 

[  542  ] 


Guthrunarhvot 


On  his  couch,  of  victory  robbed,  they  killed; 
And  grimmest  of  all  when  to  Gunnar’s  heart 
There  crept  the  bright-hued  crawling  snakes. 

1 8.  “And  keenest  of  all  when  they  cut  the  heart 
From  the  living  breast  of  the  king  so  brave; 
Many  woes  I  remember,  . 


19.  “Bridle,  Sigurth,  thy  steed  so  black, 
Hither  let  run  thy  swift-faring  horse; 
Here  there  sits  not  son  or  daughter 
Who  yet  to  Guthrun  gifts  shall  give. 


later  interpolations,  although  the  compilers  of  the  V olsungasaga 
knew  them  as  they  stand  here.  The  whole  passage  depends  on 
the  shades  of  difference  in  the  meanings  of  the  various  superla¬ 
tives:  harþastr,  “hardest”;  sárastr,  “sorest”;  grimmastr,  “grim¬ 
mest,”  and  hvassastr,  “keenest.”  Snakes:  cf.  Drap  Niflunga. 

18.  The  king:  Hogni;  cf.  Atlakvitha,  25.  The  manuscript 
marks  line  3  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  Most  editors  agree 
that  there  is  a  more  or  less  extensive  gap  after  stanza  18,  and 
some  of  them  contend  that  the  original  ending  of  the  poem  is 
lost,  stanzas  19-21  coming  from  a  different  poem,  probably  a 
lament  closely  following  Sigurth’s  death. 

19.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  line  1  as  beginning  a 
stanza,  and  it  immediately  follows  the  fragmentary  line  3  of 
stanza  18.  The  resemblance  between  stanzas  19-21  and  stanzas 
64-69  of  Sigurthark<vitha  en  skamma  suggests  that,  in  some  other¬ 
wise  lost  version  of  the  story,  Guthrun,  like  Brynhild,  sought  to 
die  soon  after  Sigurth’s  death.  Thy  steed:  Guthrun’s  appeal  to 
the  dead  Sigurth  to  ride  back  to  earth  to  meet  her  is  reminiscent 
of  the  episode  related  in  Helgakvitha  Hundingsbana  II,  39-48. 
The  promise  mentioned  in  stanza  20  is  spoken  of  elsewhere  only 
in  the  V olsungasaga  paraphrase  of  this  passage. 

[  543  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


20.  “Remember,  Sigurth, 
When  together  both 
That  mightily  thou 
From  hell  and  I 

21.  “Pile  ye  up,  jarls, 
Make  it  the  highest 
Let  the  fire  burn 
My  sore-pressed  heai 


what  once  we  said, 
on  the  bed  we  sat, 
to  me  wouldst  come 
from  earth  to  thee. 

the  pyre  of  oak, 
a  hero  e’er  had ; 
my  grief-filled  breast, 
t,  till  my  sorrows  melt.” 


22.  May  nobles  all  less  sorrow  know, 
And  less  the  woes  of  women  become, 
Since  the  tale  of  this  lament  is  told. 


21.  Perhaps  something  has  been  lost  between  stanzas  20  and 
21,  or  possibly  stanza  21,  while  belonging  originally  to  the  same 
poem  as  stanzas  19  and  20,  did  not  directly  follow  them.  Sore- 
pressed:  a  guess;  a  word  seems  to  have  been  omitted  in  the 
original. 

22.  Words  of  the  poet’s,  like  stanza  1,  and  perhaps  consti¬ 
tuting  a  later  addition.  Many  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line 
after  line  3.  The  meaning,  of  course,  is  that  the  poet  hopes  the 
story  of  Guthrun’s  woes  will  make  all  other  troubles  seem  light 
by  comparison. 


[  544] 


HAMTHESMOL 

The  Ballad  of  Hamther 

Introductory  Note 

The  Hajtithesmol,  the  concluding  poem  in  the  Codex  Regius, 
is  on  the  whole  the  worst  preserved  of  all  the  poems  in  the  col¬ 
lection.  The  origin  of  the  story,  the  relation  of  the  Hamthesmol 
to  the  Guthrunarh'vot,  and  of  both  poems  to  the  hypothetical 
“old”  Hamthesmol,  are  outlined  in  the  introductory  note  to  the 
Guthrunarhvot.  The  Hamthesmol  as  we  have  it  is  certainly  not 
the  “old”  poem  of  that  name;  indeed  it  is  so  pronounced  a  patch- 
work  that  it  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  coherent  poem  at  all. 
Some  of  the  stanzas  are  in  Fornyrthislag,  some  are  in  Malahattr, 
one  (stanza  29)  appears  to  be  in  Ljothahattr,  and  in  many  cases 
the  words  can  be  adapted  to  any  known  metrical  form  only  by 
liberal  emendation.  That  any  one  should  have  deliberately  com¬ 
posed  such  a  poem  seems  quite  incredible,  and  it  is  far  more 
likely  that  some  eleventh  century  narrator  constructed  a  poem 
about  the  death  of  Hamther  and  Sorli  by  piecing  together  various 
fragments,  and  possibly  adding  a  number  of  Malahattr  stanzas 
of  his  own. 

It  has  been  argued,  and  with  apparently  sound  logic,  that  our 
extant  Hamthesmol  originated  in  Greenland,  along  with  the 
Atlamol.  In  any  case,  it  can  hardly  have  been  put  together  before 
the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  although  the  “old”  Ham¬ 
thesmol  undoubtedly  long  antedates  this  period.  Many  editors 
have  attempted  to  pick  out  the  parts  of  the  extant  poem  which 
were  borrowed  from  this  older  lay,  but  the  condition  of  the 
text  is  such  that  it  is  by  no  means  clear  even  what  stanzas  are 
in  Fornyrthislag  and  what  in  Malahattr.  Many  editors,  likewise, 
indicate  gaps  and  omissions,  but  it  seems  doubtful  whether  the 
extant  Hamthesmol  ever  had  a  really  consecutive  quality,  its 
component  fragments  having  apparently  been  strung  together 
with  little  regard  for  continuity.  The  notes  indicate  some  of  the 
more  important  editorial  suggestions,  but  make  no  attempt  to 
cover  all  of  them,  and  the  metrical  form  of  the  translation  is 
often  based  on  mere  guesswork  as  to  the  character  of  the  original 
lines  and  stanzas.  Despite  the  chaotic  state  of  the  text,  how¬ 
ever,  the  underlying  narrative  is  reasonably  clear,  and  the  story 
can  be  followed  with  no  great  difficulty. 

[  545  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


1.  Great  the  evils  once  that  grew, 

With  the  dawning  sad  of  the  sorrow  of  elves; 

In  early  morn  awake  for  men 

The  evils  that  grief  to  each  shall  bring. 

2.  Not  now,  nor  yet  of  yesterday  was  it, 

Long  the  time  that  since  hath  lapsed, 

So  that  little  there  is  that  is  half  as  old, 

Since  Guthrun,  daughter  of  Gjuki,  whetted 
Her  sons  so  young  to  Svanhild’s  vengeance. 

3.  “The  sister  ye  had  was  Svanhild  called, 

And  her  did  Jormunrek  trample  with  horses, 
White  and  black  on  the  battle-way, 

Gray,  road-wonted,  the  steeds  of  the  Goths. 

4.  “Little  the  kings  of  the  folk  are  ye  like, 

For  now  ye  are  living  alone  of  my  race. 


1.  This  stanza  looks  like  a  later  interpolation  from  a  totally 
unrelated  source.  Sorrow  of  elves:  the  sun;  cf.  Alvissmol,  16  and 
note. 

2.  Some  editors  regard  lines  1-2  as  interpolated,  while  others 
question  line  3.  Guthrun,  etc.:  regarding  the  marriage  of  Jonak 
and  Guthrun  (daughter  of  Gjuki,  sister  of  Gunnar  and  Hogni, 
and  widow  first  of  Sigurth  and  then  of  Atli),  and  the  sons  of 
this  marriage,  Hamther  and  Sorli  (but  not  Erp),  cf.  Guthrunar- 
hvot,  introductory  prose  and  note. 

3.  Svanhild  and  Jormunrek :  regarding  the  manner  in  which 
Jormunrek  (Ermanarich)  married  Svanhild,  daughter  of  Sigurth 
and  Guthrun,  and  afterwards  had  her  trodden  to  death  by  horses, 
cf.  Guthrunarhvot,  introductory  note.  Lines  3-4  are  identical 
with  lines  5-6  of  Guthrunarhvot,  2. 

4.  These  two  lines  may  be  all  that  is  left  of  a  four-line  stanza. 

[546  ] 


Hamthesmol 


5.  “Lonely  am  I  as  the  forest  aspen, 

Of  kindred  bare  as  the  fir  of  its  boughs, 

My  joys  are  all  lost  as  the  leaves  of  the  tree 
When  the  scather  of  twigs  from  the  warm  day 
turns.” 

6.  Then  Hamther  spake  forth,  the  high  of  heart: 
“Small  praise  didst  thou,  Guthrun,  to  Hogni’s 

deed  give 

When  they  wakened  thy  Sigurth  from  out  of  his 
sleep, 

Thou  didst  sit  on  the  bed  while  his  slayers 
laughed. 

7.  “Thy  bed-covers  white  with  blood  were  red 
From  his  wounds,  and  with  gore  of  thy  husband 

were  wet; 


The  manuscript  and  many  editions  combine  them  with  stanza  5, 
while  a  few  place  them  after  stanza  5  as  a  separate  stanza,  re¬ 
versing  the  order  of  the  two  lines.  Kings  of  the  folk:  Guthrun’s 
brothers,  Gunnar  and  Hogni,  slain  by  Atli. 

5.  Cf.  note  on  stanza  4;  the  manuscript  does  not  indicate  line 
1  as  beginning  a  stanza.  Scather  of  twigs:  poetic  circumlocution 
for  the  wind  (cf.  Skaldskaparmal,  chapter  27),  though  some 
editors  think  the  phrase  here  means  the  sun.  Some  editors  assume 
a  more  or  less  extensive  gap  between  stanzas  5  and  6. 

6.  Lines  1-3  are  nearly  identical  with  lines  1-3  of  Guthrunar- 
hvot,  4.  On  the  death  of  Sigurth  cf.  Sigurtharkvitha  en  skamma, 
21-24,  and  Brot,  concluding  prose.  The  word  thy  in  line  3  is 
omitted  in  the  original. 

7.  Lines  1-2  are  nearly  identical  with  lines  4-5  of  Guthrunar- 
hvot}  4.  The  manuscript,  followed  by  many  editions,  indicates 
line  3  and  not  line  1  as  beginning  a  stanza. 

[  547  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


So  Sigurth  was  slain,  by  his  corpse  didst  thou  sit, 
And  of  gladness  didst  think  not:  ’twas  Gunnar’s 

doing. 

8.  “Thou  wouldst  strike  at  Atli  by  the  slaying  of 

Erp 

And  the  killing  of  Eitil;  thine  own  grief  was 
worse ; 

So  should  each  one  wield  the  wound-biting  sword 
That  another  it  slays  but  smites  not  himself.” 

9.  Then  did  Sorli  speak  out,  for  wise  was  he  ever: 
“With  my  mother  I  never  a  quarrel  will  make; 
Full  little  in  speaking  methinks  ye  both  lack; 
What  askest  thou,  Guthrun,  that  will  give  thee 

no  tears? 

10.  “For  thy  brothers  dost  weep,  and  thy  boys  so 
sweet, 

Thy  kinsmen  in  birth  on  the  battlefield  slain; 
Now,  Guthrun,  as  well  for  us  both  shalt  thou 
wTeep, 

We  sit  doomed  on  our  steeds,  and  far  hence  shall 
we  die.” 


8.  Some  editors  regard  this  stanza  as  interpolated.  Erp  and 
Eitil:  regarding  Guthrun’s  slaying  of  her  sons  by  Atli,  cf.  Atla- 
mol,  72-75.  The  Erp  here  referred  to  is  not  to  be  confused  with 
the  Erp,  son  of  Jonak,  who  appears  in  stanza  13.  The  whole  of 
stanza  8  is  in  doubtful  shape,  and  many  emendations  have  been 
suggested. 

10.  Some  editors  assign  this  speech  to  Hamther.  Brothers: 
Gunnar  and  Hogni.  Boys:  Erp  and  Eitil. 

[  548  ] 


Hamthesmol 


1 1.  Then  the  fame-glad  one —  on  the  steps  she  was — 
The  slender-fingered,  spake  with  her  son : 

“Ye  shall  danger  have  if  counsel  ye  heed  not ; 

•  ••••••  ••••••• 

By  two  heroes  alone  shall  two  hundred  of  Goths 
Be  bound  or  be  slain  in  the  lofty-walled  burg.” 

12.  From  the  courtyard  they  fared,  and  fury  they 

breathed ; 

The  youths  swiftly  went  o’er  the  mountain  wet, 
On  their  Hunnish  steeds,  death’s  vengeance  to 
have. 

13.  On  the  way  they  found  the  man  so  wise; 


11.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  follows  stanza  21,  and 
some  editors  take  the  word  here  rendered  “fame-glad  one” 
(hróþrglpþ)  to  be  a  proper  name  (Jormunrek’s  mother  or  his 
concubine).  The  V olsungasaga,  however,  indicates  that  Guthrun 
at  this  point  “had  so  fashioned  their  war-gear  that  iron  would 
not  bite  into  it,  and  she  bade  them  to  have  nought  to  do  with 
stones  or  other  heavy  things,  and  told  them  that  it  would  be  ill 
for  them  if  they  did  not  do  as  she  said.”  The  substance  of  this 
counsel  may  well  have  been  conveyed  in  a  passage  lost  after 
line  3,  though  the  manuscript  indicates  no  gap.  It  is  by  being 
stoned  that  Hamther  and  Sorli  are  killed  (stanza  26).  On  the 
other  hand,  the  second  part  of  line  3  may  possibly  mean  “if 
silent  ye  are  not,”  in  which  case  the  advice  relates  to  Ham- 
ther’s  speech  to  Jormunrek  and  Sorli’s  reproach  to  him  thereupon 
(stanzas  25  and  27).  Steps:  the  word  in  the  original  is  doubtful. 
Line  3  is  thoroughly  obscure.  Some  editors  make  a  separate  stanza 
of  lines  3-5,  while  others  question  line  5. 

12.  Many  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line  after  line  1.  In 
several  editions  lines  2-3  are  placed  after  line  2  of  stanza  18. 
Hunnish:  the  word  meant  little  more  than  “German”;  cf. 
Guthrunarhvot,  3  and  note. 


[  549  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


“What  help  from  the  weakling  brown  may  we 
have?” 


14.  So  answered  them 
“So  well  may  I 
As  help  one  foot 


their  half-brother  then: 
my  kinsmen  aid 
from  the  other  has.” 


i5‘ 


“How  may  a  foot  its  fellow  aid, 

Or  a  flesh-grown  hand  another  help?” 


16. 


Then  Erp  spake  forth,  his  words  were  few, 
As  haughty  he  sat  on  his  horse’s  back: 


13.  In  the  manuscript  these  two  lines  follow  stanza  16;  some 
editors  insert  them  in  place  of  lines  2-3  of  stanza  11.  The  manu¬ 
script  indicates  no  gap.  The  man  so  wise:  Erp,  here  represented 
as  a  son  of  Jonak  but  not  of  Guthrun,  and  hence  a  half-brother 
of  Hamther  and  Sorli.  There  is  nothing  further  to  indicate 
whether  or  not  he  was  born  out  of  wedlock,  as  intimated  in 
stanza  16.  Some  editors  assign  line  3  to  Hamther,  and  some  to 
Sorli. 

14.  The  stanza  is  obviously  defective.  Many  editors  add  Erp’s 
name  in  line  1,  and  insert  between  lines  2  and  3  a  line  based  on 
stanza  15  and  the  V  olsiuigasaga  paraphrase:  “As  a  flesh- 
grown  hand  another  helps.”  In  the  V olsungasaga,  after  Erp’s 
death,  Hamther  stumbles  and  saves  himself  from  falling  with  his 
hand,  whereupon  he  says:  “Erp  spake  truly;  I  had  fallen  had  I 
not  braced  myself  with  my  hand.”  Soon  thereafter  Sorli  has  a 
like  experience,  one  foot  slipping  but  the  other  saving  him  from 
a  fall.  “Then  they  said  that  they  had  done  ill  to  Erp,  their 
brother.” 

15.  Many  editions  attach  these  two  lines  to  stanza  14,  while 
a  few  assume  the  loss  of  two  lines. 

16.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  stands  between  stanzas  12 
and  13.  Some  editors  make  line  4  a  part  of  Erp’s  speech. 

[  550  ] 


Hamthesmol 


“To  the  timid  ’tis  ill  the  way  to  tell.” 

A  bastard  they  the  bold  one  called. 

17.  From  their  sheaths  they  drew  their  shining 

swords, 

Their  blades,  to  the  giantess  joy  to  give; 

By  a  third  they  lessened  the  might  that  was 
theirs, 

The  fighter  young  to  earth  they  felled. 

18.  Their  cloaks  they  shook,  their  swords  they 

sheathed, 

The  high-born  men  wrapped  their  mantles  close. 

19.  On  their  road  they  fared  and  an  ill  way  found, 
And  their  sister’s  son  on  a  tree  they  saw, 

On  the  wind-cold  wolf-tree  west  of  the  hall, 

And  cranes’-bait  crawled ;  none  would  care  to 
linger. 


17.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate  line  1  as  beginning  a 
stanza.  The  giantess:  presumably  the  reference  is  to  Hel,  god¬ 
dess  of  the  dead,  but  the  phrase  is  doubtful. 

18.  In  the  manuscript  these  two  lines  are  followed  by  stanza 
19  with  no  indication  of  a  break.  Some  editions  insert  here  lines 
2-3  of  stanza  12,  while  others  assume  the  loss  of  two  or  more 
lines. 

19.  Cf.  note  on  stanza  18.  Ill  way:  very  likely  the  road  lead¬ 
ing  through  the  gate  of  Jormunrek’s  town  at  which  Svanhild  was 
trampled  to  death.  Sister’s  son:  many  editors  change  the  text  to 
read  “stepson,”  for  the  reference  is  certainly  to  Randver,  son  of 
Jormunrek,  hanged  by  his  father  on  Bikki’s  advice  (cf.  Guth- 
runarhvot,  introductory  note).  IVolf-tree:  the  gallows,  the  wolf 
being  symbolical  of  outlaws.  Cranes’-bait:  presumably  either 
snakes  or  worms,  but  the  passage  is  doubtful. 

[551  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


20.  In  the  hall  was  din,  the  men  drank  deep, 
And  the  horses’  hoofs  could  no  one  hear, 
Till  the  warrior  hardy  sounded  his  horn. 


21.  Men  came  and  the  tale  to  Jormunrek  told 
How  warriors  helmed  without  they  beheld: 
“Take  counsel  wise,  for  brave  ones  are  come, 
Of  mighty  men  thou  the  sister  didst  murder.” 


22.  Then  Jormunrek  laughed,  his  hand  laid  on  his 

beard, 

His  arms,  for  with  wine  he  was  warlike,  he  called 
for; 

He  shook  his  brown  locks,  on  his  white  shield 
he  looked, 

And  raised  high  the  cup  of  gold  in  his  hand. 

23.  “Happy,  methinks,  were  I  to  behold 
Hamther  and  Sorli  here  in  my  hall  ; 


20.  Many  editors  assume  the  loss  of  a  line  after  line  3.  The 
warrior:  presumably  a  warder  or  watchman,  but  the  reference 
may  be  to  Hamther  himself. 

21.  The  word  here  rendered  men  (line  1)  is  missing  in  the 
original,  involving  a  metrical  error,  and  various  words  have 
been  suggested. 

22.  Line  2  in  the  original  is  thoroughly  obscure ;  some  editors 
directly  reverse  the  meaning  here  indicated  by  giving  the  line  a 
negative  force,  while  others  completely  alter  the  phrase  rendered 
“his  arms  he  called  for”  into  one  meaning  “he  stroked  his  cheeks.” 

23.  Gjuki’s  heirs:  the  original  has  “the  well-born  of  Gjuki,” 
and  some  editors  have  changed  the  proper  name  to  Guthrun,  but 
the  phrase  apparently  refers  to  Hamther  and  Sorli  as  Gjuki’s 
grandsons.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  is  followed  by  stanza  11, 

[  552  ] 


Hamthesmol 


The  men  would  I  bind  with  strings  of  bows, 
And  Gjuki’s  heirs  on  the  gallows  hang.” 

24.  In  the  hall  was  clamor,  the  cups  were  shattered, 
Men  stood  in  blood  from  the  breasts  of  the  Goths, 

25.  Then  did  Hamther  speak  forth,  the  haughty  of 

heart : 

“Thou  soughtest,  Jormunrek,  us  to  see, 

Sons  of  one  mother  seeking  thy  dwelling; 

Thou  seest  thy  hands,  thy  feet  thou  beholdest, 
Jormunrek,  flung  in  the  fire  so  hot.” 

26.  Then  roared  the  king,  of  the  race  of  the  gods, 
Bold  in  his  armor,  as  roars  a  bear: 

“Stone  ye  the  men  that  steel  will  bite  not, 
Sword  nor  spear,  the  sons  of  Jonak.” 


and  such  editors  as  have  retained  this  arrangement  have  had  to 
resort  to  varied  and  complex  explanations  to  account  for  it. 

24.  Editors  have  made  various  efforts  to  reconstruct  a  four- 
line  stanza  out  of  these  two  lines,  in  some  cases  with  the  help  of 
lines  borrowed  from  the  puzzling  stanza  11  (cf.  note  on  stanza 
23).  Line  2  in  the  original  is  doubtful. 

25.  Some  editors  mark  line  1  as  an  interpolation.  The  manu¬ 
script  marks  line  4  as  beginning  a  new  stanza.  As  in  the  story 
told  by  Jordanes,  Hamther  and  Sorli  succeed  in  wounding  Jor¬ 
munrek  (here  they  cut  off  his  hands  and  feet),  but  do  not  kill 
him. 

26.  The  manuscript  marks  line  3,  and  not  line  1,  as  beginning 
a  stanza.  Of  the  race  of  the  gods:  the  reference  here  is  appar¬ 
ently  to  Jormunrek,  but  in  the  V olsungasaga  the  advice  to  kill 
Hamther  and  Sorli  with  stones,  since  iron  will  not  wound  them 
(cf.  note  on  stanza  11),  comes  from  Othin,  who  enters  the  hall 
as  an  old  man  with  one  eye. 


[  553  ] 


Poetic  Edda 


Sorli  spake: 

27.  “Ill  didst  win,  brother,  when  the  bag  thou  didst 

open, 

Oft  from  that  bag  came  baleful  counsel; 

Heart  hast  thou,  Hamther,  if  knowledge  thou 
hadst ! 

A  man  without  wisdom  is  lacking  in  much.” 
Hamther  spake : 

28.  “His  head  were  now  off  if  Erp  were  living, 

The  brother  so  keen  whom  we  killed  on  our  road, 
The  warrior  noble, —  ’twas  the  Norns  that  drove 

me 

The  hero  to  slay  who  in  fight  should  be  holy. 

29.  “In  fashion  of  wolves  it  befits  us  not 

Amongst  ourselves  to  strive, 


27.  In  the  manuscript  this  stanza  is  introduced  by  the  same 
line  as  stanza  25:  “Then  did  Hamther  speak  forth,  the 
haughty  of  heart,”  but  the  speaker  in  this  case  must  be  Sorli  and 
not  Hamther.  Some  editors,  however,  give  lines  1-2  to  Hamther 
and  lines  3-4  to  Sorli.  Bag:  i.e.,  Hamther’s  mouth;  cf.  note  on 
stanza  n.  The  manuscript  indicates  line  3  as  beginning  a  new 
stanza. 

28.  Most  editors  regard  stanzas  28-30  as  a  speech  by  Hamther, 
but  the  manuscript  does  not  indicate  the  speaker,  and  some 
editors  assign  one  or  two  of  the  stanzas  to  Sorli.  Lines  1-2  are 
quoted  in  the  V olsungasaga.  The  manuscript  does  not  indicate 
line  1  as  beginning  a  stanza.  Erp:  Hamther  means  that  while  the 
two  brothers  had  succeeded  only  in  wounding  Jormunrek,  Erp, 
if  he  had  been  with  them,  would  have  killed  him.  Lines  3-4  may 
be  a  later  interpolation.  Norns:  the  fates;  the  word  used  in  the 
original  means  the  goddesses  of  ill  fortune. 

[  554  ] 


Hamthesmol 

Like  the  hounds  of  the  Norns,  that  nourished 
were 

In  greed  mid  wastes  so  grim. 

30.  “We  have  greatly  fought,  o’er  the  Goths  do  we 

stand 

By  our  blades  laid  low,  like  eagles  on  branches; 
Great  our  fame  though  we  die  today  or  tomor¬ 
row  ; 

None  outlives  the  night  when  the  Norns  have 
spoken.” 

31.  Then  Sorli  beside  the  gable  sank, 

And  Hamther  fell  at  the  back  of  the  house. 

This  is  called  the  old  ballad  of  Hamther. 


29.  This  is  almost  certainly  an  interpolated  Ljothahattr 
stanza,  though  some  editors  have  tried  to  expand  it  into  the  For- 
nyrthislag  form.  Hounds  of  the  Norns:  wolves. 

30.  Some  editors  assume  a  gap  after  this  stanza. 

31.  Apparently  a  fragment  of  a  stanza  from  the  “old”  Ham¬ 
thesmol  to  which  the  annotator’s  concluding  prose  note  refers. 
Some  editors  assume  the  loss  of  two  lines  after  line  2. 

Prose.  Regarding  the  “old”  Hamthesmol,  cf.  Guthrunarhvot, 
introductory  note. 


[555  ] 


PRONOUNCING  INDEX  OF  PROPER 

NAMES 


Introductory  Note 


The  pronunciations  indicated  in  the  following  index  are 
in  many  cases,  at  best,  mere  approximations,  and  in  some 
cases  the  pronunciation  of  the  Old  Norse  is  itself  more  or 
less  conjectural.  For  the  sake  of  clarity  it  has  seemed 
advisable  to  keep  the  number  of  phonetic  symbols  as  small 
as  possible,  even  though  the  result  is  occasional  failure  to 
distinguish  between  closely  related  sounds.  In  every  in¬ 
stance  the  object  has  been  to  provide  the  reader  with  a 
clearly  comprehensible  and  approximately  correct  pronun¬ 
ciation,  for  which  reason,  particularly  in  such  matters  as 
division  of  syllables,  etymology  has  frequently  been  disre¬ 
garded  for  the  sake  of  phonetic  clearness.  For  example, 
when  a  root  syllable  ends  in  a  long  (double)  consonant, 
the  division  has  arbitrarily  been  made  so  as  to  indicate  the 
sounding  of  both  elements  (e.  g.,  Am-ma,  not  Amm-a). 

As  many  proper  names  occur  in  the  notes  but  not  in  the 
text,  and  as  frequently  the  more  important  incidents  con¬ 
nected  with  the  names  are  outlined  in  notes  which  would 
not  be  indicated  by  textual  references  alone,  the  page  num¬ 
bers  include  all  appearances  of  proper  names  in  the  notes 
as  well  as  in  the  text. 

The  following  general  rules  govern  the  application  of 
the  phonetic  symbols  used  in  the  index,  and  also  indicate 
the  approximate  pronunciation  of  the  unmarked  vowels 
and  consonants. 

Vowels.  The  vowels  are  pronounced  approximately  as 
follows : 


a  -  as  in  “alone” 
á  -  as  in  “father” 
e-as  in  “men” 
é  -  as  a  in  “fate” 

•  •  it 

l-as  in  is 
i  -  as  in  “machine” 


o  -  as  in  “on” 

ö-as  in  “old” 

ö-as  in  German  “öffnen” 

ö  -  as  in  German  “schön” 

9 -as  aiv  in  “law” 

u  -  as  ou  in  “would” 


[  557  ] 


PRONOUNCING  INDEX— Continued 


ú  -  as  ou  in  “wound 
y-as  i  in  “is”  / 
ý  -  as  ee  in  “free”  ( 
æ  -  as  e  in  “men” 
æ-as  a  in  “fate” 


a 

Both  with  a 
slight  sound 
of  German  il 


ei  -  as  ey  in  “they” 
ey  -  as  in  “they” 
au  -  as  ou  in  “out” 
ai  -  as  i  in  “fine” 


No  attempt  has  been  made  to  differentiate  between  the 
short  open  “o”  and  the  short  closed  “o,”  which  for  speakers 
of  English  closely  resemble  one  another. 

Consonants.  The  consonants  are  pronounced  approxi¬ 
mately  as  in  English,  with  the  following  special  points  to 
be  noted  : 

G  is  always  hard,  as  in  “get,”  never  soft,  as  in  “gem;” 
following  “n”  it  has  the  same  sound  as  in  “sing.” 

J  is  pronounced  as  y  in  “young.” 

Th  following  a  vowel  is  soft,  as  in  “with ;”  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  a  word  or  following  a  consonant  it  is  hard,  as  in 
“thin.” 

The  long  (doubled)  consonants  should  be  pronounced  as 
in  Italian,  both  elements  being  distinctly  sounded;  e.  g., 
“Am-ma.” 


S  is  always  hard,  as  in  “so,”  “this,”  never  soft,  as  in  “as.” 

H  enters  into  combinations  with  various  following  con¬ 
sonants;  with  “v”  the  sound  is  approximately  that  of  wh 
in  “what” ;  with  “1,”  “r”  and  “n”  it  produces  sounds  which 
have  no  exact  English  equivalents,  but  which  can  be  ap¬ 
proximated  by  pronouncing  the  consonants  with  a  marked 
initial  breathing. 

Accents.  The  accented  syllable  in  each  name  is  indi¬ 
cated  by  the  acute  accent  (')•  In  many  names,  however, 
and  particularly  in  compounds,  there  is  both  a  primary  and 
a  secondary  accent,  and  where  this  is  the  case  the  primary 
stress  is  indicated  by  a  double  acute  accent  (")  and  the 
secondary  one  by  a  single  acute  accent  (').  To  avoid 
possible  confusion  with  the  long  vowel  marks  used  in  Old 
Norse  texts,  the  accents  are  placed,  not  over  the  vowels,  but 
after  the  accented  syllables. 

[  558  ] 


PRONOUNCING  INDEX 


Æg'-ir,  the  sea-god,  102,  132, 
139-141,  150-154,  156-158,  161, 
172,  199,  280,  299,  300,  314, 
324,  359* 

Æk'-in,  a  river,  95. 

Af'-i,  Grandfather,  204,  207. 
Ag'-nar,  a  warrior,  390,  444, 
445* 

Ag'-nar,  brother  of  Geirröth, 
85,  86. 

Ag'-nar,  son  of  Geirröth,  84, 
87,  88,  106. 

Ai,  a  dwarf,  6,  8. 

Ai,  Great-Grandfather,  204. 
Alf,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Alf,  husband  of  Hjordis,  335, 

336,  359,  374,  454- 
Alf,  slayer  of  Helgi,  286,  288, 

289,  331- 

Alf,  son  of  Dag,  223,  454. 

Alf,  son  of  Hring,  306. 

Alf,  son  of  Handing,  295,  316, 
3I7- 

Alf,  son  of  Ulf,  222. 

Alf'-heim,  home  of  the  elves, 
3,  88,  186. 

Alf'-hild,  wife  of  Hjorvarth, 
272,  273. 

Alf'-roth-ul,  the  sun,  81. 
Al'-gron,  an  island,  127. 

Al'-i,  a  warrior,  222. 
Alm'-veig,  wife  of  Halfdan, 


A'-lof,  daughter  of  Franmar , 
273,  275,  276. 

Al'-svith,  a  giant,  62. 

Al'-svith,  a  horse,  99,  100,  394. 

Al'-thjöf,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Al'-vald-i,  a  giant,  128. 

AI'  -vis,  a  dwarf,  183-193. 

AT'-viss-mpl,  the  Ballad  of  Al- 
vis,  68,  109,  183-194,  252,  283, 

_  546. 

Am,  son  of  Dag,  223. 

Am'-bött,  daughter  of  T  hr  cell, 
207. 

Am'-ma,  Grandmother,  204, 
207,  208. 

An,  a  dwarf,  6. 

And'-hrim-nir,  a  cook,  92. 

And"-var-a-naut',  a  ring,  114, 
361,  448. 

And'-var-i,  a  dwarf,  8,  114, 
260,  343,  357-361,  4J7,  426, 
448,  493- 

An'-gan-tyr,  a  berserker,  225. 

An'-gan-tyr,  a  warrior,  218. 
220,  232. 

Ang'-eyj-a,  mother  of  Heim- 
dall,  229. 

Angr'-both-a,  a  giantess,  17,  21, 
146,  196,  230,  231. 

Arf'-i,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Ar"-in-nef'-ja,  daughter  of 
T  hr  cell,  207. 

Arn'-grim,  father  of  the  ber¬ 
serkers,  225. 


222. 


[  559  } 


Index 


Ar'-vak,  a  horse,  99,  100,  394. 

Ás"-a-thör',  Thor,  135. 

As'-gaxth,  home  of  the  gods,  3. 
ii,  12,  141,  179,  186. 

Ask,  Ash ,  8. 

As'-laug,  daughter  of  Brynhild, 

.  353,  404,  429- 

As'-mund,  a  giant  (?),  104. 

Ath'-al,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

At'-la,  mother  of  Heimdall,  229. 

At"-la-kvith'-a,  the  Lay  of  Atli, 
165,  255,  306,  421,  448,  463, 

476,  480-501,  515,  520,  522, 

530,  543- 

At"-la-mpl',  the  Ballad  of  Atli, 
448,  449,  463,  480-482,  485, 

487,  491,  494,  498-535,  538, 

540,  545,  548. 

At'-li,  Attila,  8,  121,  290,  339, 
346,  361,  406,  418,  419,  422, 
430-432,  436-438,  447-451, 

456-459,  461-466,  468-470, 
472-478,  480-485,  487-489, 

491-502,  504,  506,  507,  513, 
514,  516-520,  522-538,  541, 
546-548. 

At'-li,  son  of  Hring,  306. 

At'-li,  son  of  Ithmund,  271, 
273-276,  278-281,  283,  284. 

At'-rith,  Othin,  104. 

Aur'-both-a,  a  giantess,  109, 
228. 

Aur'-both-a,  Mengloth’s  hand¬ 
maid,  249. 

Aur'-gelm-ir,  Ymir,  76. 

Aur'-vang,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Austr'-i,  a  dwarf,  6. 


Auth,  mother  of  Harald  Battle- 
Tooth,  227. 

Auth'-a,  sister  of  Agnar,  390, 
444,  445- 

Auth'-i,  son  of  Halfdan  the 
Old,  221,  485. 

Baldr,  a  god,  1,  2,  14-16,  22,  25, 
82,  83,  90,  91,  114,  161,  172, 
I95“I99,  218,  227,  228,  236, 
245,  360. 

Baldrs  Draumar,  Baldr*  s 
Dreams,  15,  19,  114,  174,  178, 
195-200,  236. 

Bál'-eyg,  Othin,  103. 

Bar'-i,  a  dwarf,  247. 

Barn,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Bar'-ri,  a  berserker,  225. 
Bar'-ri,  a  forest,  119,  120. 
Beit'-i,  Atli's  steward,  520. 
Bekk'-hild,  sister  of  Brynhild, 
345,  346. 

Bel'-i,  a  giant,  22,  no,  112. 
Ber'-a,  Kostbera,  449,  510,  511, 

5*7- 

Ber'-gel-mir,  a  giant,  76,  78. 
Best'-la,  Othin* s  mother,  4,  6i, 
160. 

Beyl'-a,  servant  of  Freyr,  152, 
153,  169. 

Bif'-lind-i,  Othin,  104. 
Bif'-rost,  the  rainbow  bridge, 
22,  90,  96,  102,  136,  329,  376. 
Bi'-fur,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Bik'-ki,  follower  of  Jormunrek, 
439,  487,  488,  538,  551- 
Bil'-eyg,  Othin,  103. 

[  560  ] 


Index 


Bil'-ling,  a  giant  (?),  28,  46,  48. 

Bil'-rost,  the  rainbow  bridge, 
102,  376. 

Bil'-skirn-ir,  Thor’s  dwelling, 

88,  93- 

Bjort,  Mengloth’s  handmaid, 
249. 

Bláin,  Ymir  (?),  6. 

Bleik,  Mengloth’s  handmaid, 
249- 

Blind,  follower  of  Hunding, 
312. 

Blith,  Mengloth’s  handmaid, 
249. 

Bod'-di,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Bp'-fur,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Bolm,  an  island,  225. 

Bol'-thorn,  Othin’s  grandfa¬ 
ther,  4,  61. 

Bol'-verk,  Othin,  50,  52,  103. 

Bom'-bur,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Bönd'-i,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Borg'-ar,  brother  of  Borg - 
hild  (?),  334. 

Borg'-hild,  mother  of  Iielgi, 
270,  291,  293,  310,  333-335- 

Borg'-ny,  daughter  of  Heithrek, 
469-473,  479. 

Both'-vild,  daughter  of  Ni- 
thuth,  254,  258,  260,  261,  263, 
265-268. 

Brag'-a-lund,  a  forest,  314. 

Brag'-i,  a  god,  102,  152,  155- 
158,  228,  314,  394. 

Brag'-i,  brother  of  Sigrun,  318, 

319- 


Brag'-i  Bod'-da-son,  a  skald, 
102. 

Brá'-lund,  birthplace  of  Helgi, 
291,  292,  310. 

Bram'-i,  a  berserker,  225. 
Brand'-ey,  an  island,  297. 
Bratt'-skegg,  son  of  Karl,  209. 
Brá'-voll,  a  field,  303. 

Breith,  son  of  Karl,  209. 
Breith'-a-blik,  Baldr’s  home, 
90, 

Brim'-ir,  a  giant,  6,  16,  17,  394. 
Brim'-ir,  a  sword,  102. 
Bris'-ings,  the  dwarfs,  159,  177- 
179,  236. 

Brodd,  follower  of  Hrolf,  224. 
Brot  af  Sig"-urth-ar-kvith'-u, 
Fragment  of  a  Sigurth  Lay, 
155,  370»  402-412,  420,  421, 
427-429,  448,  450-452,  486, 

493,  515,  539,  542,  547- 
Brun"-a-vag'-ar,  a  harbor,  313, 

3H- 

Brúth,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 
Bryn'-hild,  wife  of  Gunnar,  14, 
226,  234,  270,  296,  339,  344- 

347,  349-353,  362,  370,  371, 
383-388,  391,  396,  397,  400, 
403-408,  412,  417-419,  421- 
425,  427,  429-438,  442-448, 
457,  459,  460,  469,  470,  474- 
476,  481,  484,  511,  516,  518, 

532,  537,  543- 
Bu'-i,  a  berserker,  225. 

Bú'-i,  son  of  Karl,  209. 
Bund"-in-skeg'-gi,  son  of  Karl, 
209. 


Index 


Bur,  father  of  Othin,  4,  160, 
228. 

Bur,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Buth'-li,  father  of  Atli,  296, 

339,  344,  346,  347,  37*,  385, 

388,  405,  406,  408,  417-419, 

425,  429,  430,  432,  437,  441, 

443,  459,  466,  474,  485,  487, 
488,  498,  512,  518,  521,  525, 
530,  533- 

Buth'-lungs,  descendants  of 
Buthli,  498. 

Bygg'-vir,  Freyr’s  servant,  152, 
153,  165,  166,  169. 

By'-leist  (or  By'-leipt),  brother 
of  Lokl,  22,  230. 

Dag,  a  god  (Day),  66,  75,  192. 
Dag,  brother  of  Sigrun,  310, 
318,  319,  323,  324,  331. 

Dag,  husband  of  Thor  a,  223, 
454- 

Dáin,  a  dwarf,  6,  220. 

Dáin,  a  hart,  98. 

Dáin,  an  elf,  62. 

Dan,  a  king,  216. 

Dan'-a,  daughter  of  Danp,  216. 
Danp,  a  king,  216,  484. 
Del'-ling,  father  of  Day,  66,  75, 
247. 

Digr'-ald-i,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 
Dog'-Iing,  Delling,  75. 
Dög'-lings,  descendants  of  Dag, 
223. 

Dolg'-thras-ir,  a  dwarf,  7. 
Dör'-i,  a  dwarf,  8,  247. 

Dráp  Nifl'-ung-a,  the  Slaying 


of  the  Niflungs,  408,  438,  447- 
449,  461,  472,  477,  48i,  4S2, 
485,  489,  494,  501,  539,  543. 

Draup'-nir,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Draup'-nir,  a  ring,  114,  360. 

Dreng,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Drott,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 

Drumb,  son  of  Thrcell,  206. 

Drumb'-a,  daughter  of  Thrcell, 
207. 

Dúf,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Dun'-eyr,  a  hart,  98. 

Dur'-in,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Dval'-in,  a  dwarf,  6,  7,  62,  188, 
375* 

Dval'-in,  a  hart,  98. 

Dyr'-a-thrör,  a  hart,  98. 

Ed'-da,  Great-Grandmother, 
204,  205. 

Egg'-thér,  the  giants’  watch¬ 
man,  18. 

Eg'-il,  brother  of  Völund,  254- 
257,  265,  267. 

Eg'-il,  father  of  Thjalfi  (?), 

141. 

Eg"-ils-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
Egil,  139- 

Eik"-in-skjald'-i,  a  dwarf,  7,  8. 

Eik"-in-tjas'-na,  daughter  of 
Thrcell,  207. 

Eik'-thyrn-ir,  a  hart,  94. 

Eir,  Mengloth’s  handmaid,  248, 
249' 

Eist'-la,  mother  of  Heimdall, 
229. 

Eit'-il,  son  of  Atli,  448,  461. 


[  562  ] 


Index 


482,  495-498,  525,  540,  541, 

548. 

Eld'-hrim-nir,  a  kettle,  92. 

Eld'-ir,  Ægir’s  servant,  153, 

_  154- 

ÉF'-i-vág'-ar,  the  Milky 
IV  ay  (?) ,  76,  140. 

Emb'-la,  Elm,  8. 

Ern'-a,  wife  of  Jarl,  213,  214. 

Erp,  son  of  Atli,  448,  461,  482, 
495-498,  525,  540,  541,  548. 

Erp,  son  of  Jonak,  361,  439,  538, 
540,  546,  548,  550,  554. 

Ey'-fur-a,  mother  of  the  ber¬ 
serkers,  225. 

Eyj'-olf,  son  of  Hunding,  295, 
316,  317. 

Ey'-lim-i,  father  of  Hjordis, 
226,  270,  295,  335,  336,  340, 
341,  363,  365- 

Ey'-lim-i,  father  of  Svava,  277, 
284,  285,  287,  335. 

Ey'-möth,  Atli’s  emissary,  456, 
457- 

Ey'-mund,  king  of  Holmgarth, 
222. 

Eyr'-gjaf-a,  mother  of  Heim- 
dall,  229. 

Faf'-nir,  brother  of  Rcgin,  226, 
260,  273,  339,  345,  357,  359, 
361-365,  369-383,  385,  412, 
421,  431,  445,  448,  475,  476, 
484. 

Faf'^-nis-mpF,  the  Ballad  of 
Fafnir,  6,  7,  125,  151,  188, 
215,  226,  273,  343,  344,  356, 


357,  365,  369-388,  390,  402, 
41 1,  417,  445,  450,  474,  476, 
509. 

Fal'-höfn-ir,  a  horse,  96. 

Far'-baut-i,  father  of  Loki,  157, 
168. 

Farm'-a-tyr,  Othin,  104. 

Fath'-ir,  Father,  204,  210. 

Feim'-a,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 

Feng,  Othin,  366. 

Fen'-ja,  a  giantess,  436. 

Fenr'-ir,  a  wolf,  17-23,  81-83, 
91,  93,  100,  140,  146,  152,  164, 
165,  170,  196,  303. 

Fen'-sal-ir,  Frigg’s  hall,  15. 

Fil'-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Fim'-a-feng,  Ægir’s  servant, 
152,  153- 

Fim'-bul-thul,  a  river,  95. 

Fith,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Fit'-jung,  Earth,  43,  44. 

FjaF-ar,  a  cock,  18,  19,  243. 

Fjal'-ar,  a  dwarf,  8. 

FjaF-ar,  Suttung  (?),  32. 

FjaF-ar,  Utgartha-Loki  (?), 
130. 

FjoF-kald,  Svipdag’s  grand¬ 
father,  240. 

FjoF-nir,  Othin,  103,  366. 

FjoF'-svinns-mpF,  the  Ballad 
of  Fjolsvith,  234,  239-251. 

FjoF-svith,  Mengloth’s  watch¬ 
man,  234,  239-250. 

FjoF-svith,  Othin ,  103. 

FjoF-var,  a  giant  (?) ,  127. 

Fjön,  an  island,  455. 

Fjorg'-yn,  Jorth,  23,  24,  136. 


[  563  ] 


Index 


Fjorg'-yn,  Othin,  24,  160. 

Fjorm,  a  river,  95. 

Fjorn'-ir,  Gunnar’s  cupbearer, 
486. 

Fjors'-ungs,  the  fishes  (?) ,  321. 

Fjösn'-ir,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 

Fjot'-ur-lund,  a  forest,  323. 

Fljöth,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 

Folk'-vang,  Freyja’s  home,  90, 
175- 

For'-set-i,  a  god,  91,  228. 

Föst"-brœth-ra-sag'-a,  the  Saga 
of  the  Foster-Brothers,  46. 

Frá  Dauth'-a  Sinf'-jotl-a,  Of 
Sinfjotli’s  Death,  270,  293, 
295,  302,  332-337,  340,  342, 
356,  357,  359,  365,  368,  374, 
386,  388,  421,  454,  455. 

Fræg,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Frán'-ang,  a  waterfall,  172, 

173- 

Frán'-mar,  Sigrlin’s  foster- 
father,  273,  275. 

Frár,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Frath'-mar,  son  of  Dag,  223. 

Frek'-a-stein,  a  battlefield,  287, 
288,  304,  307,  318,  319,  322. 

Frek'-i,  a  wolf,  92,  295. 

Frek'-i,  son  of  Dag,  223. 

Frey'-ja,  a  goddess,  10-12,  22, 
90,  91,  102,  108,  128,  152,  157- 
159,  161-163,  I75-I77,  180, 
181,  217-220,  231-233,  236, 
472. 

Freyr,  a  god,  10,  22,  88,  91, 
101,  107-110,  112-115,  117, 

[ 


119,  120,  152,  1 6 1  - 1 66,  169, 
175,  220,  228,  284,  308,  428. 

Fri'-aut,  daughter  of  Hildigun, 
222,  223. 

Frigg,  a  goddess,  14,  15,  22,  68, 
29,  86,  89,  91,  151,  152,  157- 
1 61,  182,  196,  236,  248,  472. 

Frith,  M engloth’s  handmaid, 
249. 

Frost'-i,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Fröth'-i,  a  Danish  king,  294, 
295,  436. 

Fröth'-i,  father  of  Hledis,  222. 

Fröth'-i,  father  of  Kari  (?) , 
224. 

Ful'-la,  Frigg’s  handmaid,  86. 

Ful'-nir,  son  of  Thrcell,  206. 

Fund'-in,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Gagn'-ráth,  Othin,  68,  70-72. 

Gand'-alf,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Gang,  brother  of  Thjazi,  128. 

Gang'-ler-i,  King  Gylfi,  94. 

Gang'-ler-i,  Othin,  103. 

Garm,  a  hound,  19,  21,  24,  102, 
140,  196. 

Gast'-ropn-ir,  Mengloth’s 
dwelling,  242. 

Gaut,  Othin,  105. 

Gef'-jun,  a  goddess,  157-159- 

Geir'-mund,  kinsman  of  Atli, 
478. 

Geir'-on-ul,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Geir'-röth,  a  king,  84-87,  104- 
106. 

Geir'-skog-ul,  a  Valkyrie,  14. 

Geir'-vim-ul,  a  river,  95- 


Index 


Geit'-ir,  Gripir’s  servant,  340- 
343. 

Ger'-i,  a  hound,  244. 

Ger'-i,  a  wolf,  92,  295. 

Gerth,  daughter  of  Gymir,  109, 
in-115,  119,  120,  152,  165, 

228. 

Gif,  a  hound,  244. 

Gim'-le,  a  mountain,  26. 
Gin'-nar,  a  dwarf,  8. 
Gin"-nung-a-gap',  Yawning 
Gap,  4,  77. 

Gip'-ul,  a  river,  95. 

Gisl,  a  horse ,  96. 

Gjaf'-laug,  Gjuki’s  sister,  413. 
Gjal"-lar-horn',  Heimdall’s 
horn,  12,  20. 

Gjol,  a  river,  95. 

Gjolp,  mother  of  Heimdall, 

229. 

Gjuk'-i,  father  of  Gunnar,  226, 

343,  344,  348,  352-354,  362, 
383,  403,  406,  407,  410,  41 1, 
413,  415-418,  421-423,  426, 
429,  444,  446-448,  451,  452, 
459,  462,  466,  470,  476,  477, 
480,  482,  499,  500,  509,  516, 

517,  529,  535,  541,  542,  546, 
552,  553. 

Gjúk'-i,  son  of  Hogni,  449. 
Gjúk'-ungs,  Gjuki’s  sons,  344, 
383,  388,  403,  408,  421,  426, 
431,  446,  448,  449,  451,  456, 

457,  476,  477,  483,  484,  500, 
501. 

Glap'-svith,  Othin,  103. 
Glas'-ir,  a  forest,  274. 


Glath,  a  horse,  96. 

Glaths'-heim,  Othin’ s  dwelling, 
89. 

Glaum,  Atli’s  horse,  493. 

Glaum'-vor,  wife  of  Gunnar, 
448,  500,  502,  507,  508,  510, 
511- 

Gleip'-nir,  a  chain,  17. 

Gler,  a  horse,  96. 

Glit'-nir,  Forseti’s  dwelling,  91. 

Glö'-in,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Gnip"-a-hel'-lir,  a  cave,  19,  21, 
24. 

Gnip'-a-Iund,  a  forest,  300, 
301,  303,  306. 

Gnit'-a-heith,  Fafnir’s  moun¬ 
tain,  343,  365,  371,  484. 

Gö'-in,  a  serpent,  98. 

Gol,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Gol"-lin-kamb'-i,  a  cock,  19, 
243,  329. 

Goll'-nir,  a  giant  (?) ,  303. 

Golf-rond,  daughter  of  Gjuki, 
414-416,  418. 

Goll'-topp,  a  horse,  96,  97. 

Goll'-veig,  a  Wane,  10. 

Gom'-ul,  a  river,  95. 

Gond'-lir,  Othin,  104. 

Gond'-ul,  a  Valkyrie,  14. 

Gop'-ul,  a  river,  95. 

Gorm  (the  Old),  King  of  Den¬ 
mark,  201,  202. 

Goth'-mund,  son  of  Gramnar, 
290,  300-305,  309,  316-318, 
321,  322,  332. 

Got'-thorm,  slayer  of  Sigurth, 


[565] 


Index 


226,  350,  354,  361,  405,  410, 
426-428, 453, 533. 

Grá'-bak,  a  serpent,  98. 

Graf'-vit-nir,  a  serpent,  98. 

Graf'-vol-luth,  a  serpent,  98. 

Gram,  Sigurth’s  sword,  351, 
365,  378,  427,  428. 

Gran'-i,  Sigurth’s  horse,  259, 
260,  303,  342,  344,  350,  358, 
359,  385,  395,  403,  406,  417, 
431,  432,  445,  446,  452,  476. 

Gran'-mar,  father  of  Hoth- 
hrodd,  291,  296,  300,  304,  308, 
316-322,  332. 

Greip,  mother  of  Heimdall, 
229. 

Gret'-tir,  a  hero,  64. 

Gret"-tis-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
Grettir,  129. 

Grim,  follower  of  Hrolf,  224. 

Grim,  Othin,  103. 

Grim'-hild,  wife  of  Gjuki,  226, 
349,  350,  354,  403,  405,  436, 
448,  455-457,  459-461,  474, 
519,  524,  526. 

Grim'-nir,  Othin,  84,  86,  87, 
103,  104. 

Grim"-nis-m9l,  the  Ballad  of 
Grimnir,  4,  5,  9,  12,  14,  17- 
20,  62,  68,  75,  84-108,  122, 
130,  136,  138,  139,  152,  175, 
179,  180,  196,  203,  221,  230, 
234,  237,  253,  302,  303,  323, 
329,  366,  376,  378,  384,  394, 
472,  487,  494- 

Grip'-ir,  Sigurth’s  uncle,  337, 
340-355- 


Grip"-is-spp',  Gripir’s  Proph¬ 
ecy,  14,  87,  226,  336-359,  365, 
371,  383,  386,  388,  403,  404, 

1  406,  409,  412,  417,  418,  421, 
422,  429,  440-442,  446,  447, 
450,  451,  456,  469,  481,  484, 
499,  5i8,  536. 

Grö'-a,  mother  of  Svipdag,  234- 
236,  238. 

Grpth,  a  river,  95. 

Grot"-ta-songr',  the  Song  of 
Grotti,  436. 

Grot'-ti,  a  mill,  436. 

Grö"-u-galdr',  Groa’s  Spell, 
234-239. 

Gull'-fax-i,  a  horse,  126. 

Gull"-in-tan'-ni,  Heimdall,  97. 

Gung'-nir,  a  spear,  101,  395. 

Gun'-nar,  brother  of  Borg- 
hild  (?),  334. 

Gun'-nar,  follower  of  Hrolf, 
224. 

Gun'-nar,  son  of  Gjuki,  8,  226, 
339,  343,  349-354,  361,  383, 
403-405,  407-409,  4H,  417- 
419,  421-424,  426,  427,  429- 
434,  436-38,  442,  447-449,  453, 
456,  457,  459-461,  467,  469, 
470,  473-479,  482-486,  488- 
494,  497-500,  502,  507-509, 
513,  5I7-5I9,  521,  522,  532, 
533,  539,  541,  543,  546-548- 

Gunn'-loth,  daughter  of  Sut- 
tung,  28,  32,  50-52. 

Gunn'-thor-in,  a  river,  95. 

Gunn'-thrö,  a  river,  95. 


[  566  ] 


Index 


Gust,  Andvari  (?),  357,  361. 

Guth,  a  Valkyrie,  14,  314. 

Guth'-run,  wife  of  Sigurth,  226, 

339»  343,  344,  349,  352-354, 
383,  388,  403-407,  410-417, 
419,  421-424,  428,  429,  433, 
436-439,  442,  446-451,  453, 
455-457,  459-466,  468,  470, 
477,  480,  482,  485,  493-501, 
5G,  515,  516,  518,  519,  522- 
544,  546-550,  552. 

Guth"-rún-ar-hvot',  Guthrun’s 
Inciting,  226,  410,  41 1,  439, 
447,  450,  497,  535-547,  549, 
551,  555- 

Guth"-rún-ar-kvith'-a  I  (en 
Fyrst'-a),  the  First  Lay  of 
Guthrun,  4,  293,  325,  402, 
409,  41 1-420,  422,  423,  426, 
429,  430,  450,  452-454,  475, 
479- 

Guth"-rún-ar-kvith'-a  II  (On'- 
nur,  en  Forn'-a),  the  Second 
(Old)  Lay  of  Guthrun,  230, 
255,  325,  407,  4*0-412,  416, 
419,  450-465,  467,  476,  493, 
495,  496,  501,  505- 

Guth"-  run  -  ar  -  kvith'  -  a  III 
(Thrith'-ja) ,  the  Third  Lay 
of  Guthrun,  450,  451,  465- 
469,  5I7- 

Gylf"-a-gin'-ning,  the  Deceiv¬ 
ing  of  Gylfi,  120,  228,  229, 
231,  248,  370. 

GyF-lir,  a  horse,  96. 

Gym'-ir,  Ægir,  151. 


Gym'-ir,  a  giant,  109,  hi,  112, 
114,  165,  228. 

Gyrth,  son  of  Dag,  223. 

Had'-ding,  a  Danish  king,  311, 
458. 

Had."-  ding  -  ja  -  skat'-  i,  H ad¬ 
dings'  -Hero  (Helgi),  311, 
330,  331* 

Had'-dings,  berserkers,  225. 

Hæm'-ing,  son  of  Hunding,  311. 

Hag'-al,  Helgi’s  foster-father, 
310-312. 

Hak'-i,  son  of  Hvethna,  227. 

Hal,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Half,  King  of  Horthaland,  222, 
223. 

Half'-dan,  father  of  Kara,  316, 
330. 

Half'-dan  (the  Old),  a  Danish 
king,  221-223,  227,  269,  307, 
308,  364,  454. 

Hálfs'-sag-a,  the  Saga  of  Half, 
222,  223. 

Ham'-al,  son  of  Hagai,  311, 
3I4- 

Ham'-thér,  son  of  Jonak,  361, 
439,  447,  536-541,  545-550, 
552-555. 

Ham"-thes-mpl',  the  Ballad  of 
Hamther,  226,  410,  439,  447, 
450,  488,  536-540,  545-555- 

Há'-mund,  son  of  Sigmund, 
293,  334- 

Han'-nar,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Hár,  Othin,  94,  103. 


[  567  ] 


Index 


Har'-ald  (Battle-Tooth),  son 
of  Hrörek,  227. 

Har'-ald  (Blue-Tooth),  King 
of  Denmark,  201,  202. 

Hár'-barth,  Othin,  104,  121, 
122,  125-13  7. 

Hár"-barths-ljöth',  the  Poem  of 
Harbarth,  12,  24,  104,  12 1- 
140,  142,  143,  152,  167,  168, 
170,  171,  174,  175,  185,  195, 
228,  314,  394,  443,  478,  480. 

Hat'-a-f jord,  a  fjord,  278. 

Hat'-i,  a  giant,  278,  280,  281. 

Hat'-i,  a  wolf,  18,  100. 

Haug'-spor-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Heer'-fath-er,  Othin,  13,  14,  69, 
92,  94,  218,  390. 

Heim'-dall,  a  god,  3,  12,  18,  20, 
90,  97,  115,  166,  167,  178,  202, 
203,  213,  228-230. 

Heim'-ir,  Brynhild’s  foster-fa¬ 
ther,  345-348,  350,  351,  353, 
403,  404,  445. 

Heith,  daughter  of  Hrimnir, 
228. 

Heith,  Gollweg  (?),  10. 

Heith'-draup-nir,  Mimir  (?) , 
393,  394- 

Heith'-rek,  father  of  Borgny, 
470. 

Heith'-rún,  a  goat,  94,  232. 

Hel,  goddess  of  the  dead,  16, 
17,  19,  20,  22,  93,  95,  97,  115, 
118,  146,  196,  231,  237,  245, 
377,  441-443,  518,  551- 

Hel'-blind-i,  Othin,  103. 


son'-ar,  the  Lay  of  Helgi  the 
Son  of  Hjorvarth,  14,  189, 
269-290,  292,  293,  295,  298, 
300,  302,  304,  309,  313,  318, 

332,  358,  359,  371,  506. 

Helg"-a-kvith'-a  Hund"-ings- 
ban'-a  I  (en  Fyr'-ri),  the 
First  Lay  of  Helgi  Hundings- 
bane,  14,  160,  215,  221,  273, 
276,  281,  287,  290-308,  310, 
311,  313,  316-319,  321,  322, 
328,  358,  364-366,  428,  524. 

Helg"-a-kvith'-a  Hund"-ings- 
ban'-a  II  (On'-nur),  the  Sec¬ 
ond  Lay  of  Helgi  Hundings- 
bane,  95,  272,  288,  289,  294, 
296,  298,  306,  309-331,  366, 
418,  434,  4 66,  543. 

Helg'-i  (Had"-ding-ja-skat'-i), 
Helgi  the  Haddings  -Hero, 
311,  330,  331. 

Helg'-i,  Hjalmgunnar  (?) ,  344, 
345- 

Helg'-i,  son  of  Hjorvarth,  269- 
272,  276-289,  310,  311,  330, 
331,  335- 

Helg'-i,  son  of  Sigmund,  221, 
269,  270,  276,  289-301,  304, 
306-336,  339,  340,  357,  358, 
364-366,  368,  371,  446. 

Hel'-reith  Bryn'-hild-ar,  Bryn¬ 
hild’s  Hell-Ride,  129,  255, 

345,  346,  353,  387,  388,  390, 

442-447,  450,  5 1 1. 

Hept"-i-fil'-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Her'-borg,  queen  of  the  Huns, 
411,  413,  414. 


Helg"-a-kvith'-a  Hjor"-varths- 


[  568  ] 


Index 


Her'-fjot-ur,  a  Valkyrie ,  99. 

Her'-jan,  Othin,  14,  103,  416. 

Herk'-ja,  A tli’s  servant,  465, 
4 66,  468. 

Her'-möth,  son  of  Othin,  218. 

Hers'-ir,  father  of  Erna,  213. 

Her'-teit,  Othin,  103. 

Her"-var-ar-sag'-a,  the  Saga 
of  Hervor,  366,  484. 

Her'-varth,  a  berserker,  225. 

Her'-varth,  son  of  Hunding, 
316,  317. 

Her'-vor,  a  swan-maiden,  254- 
256,  259. 

Heth'-in,  brother  of  Helgi,  271- 
273,  284-286,  288,  289. 

Heth'-ins-ey,  an  island,  297. 

Hild,  a  Valkyrie,  14,  99. 

Hild,  Brynhild,  444,  511. 

Hild,  mother  of  King  Half, 
223,  224. 

Hild'-i-gun,  daughter  of  Sœko- 
nung,  222,  223. 

Hild"-i-svin'-i,  a  boar,  220. 

Hild'-olf,  a  warrior,  124. 

Him'-in-bjorg,  Heimdall's 
dwelling,  90. 

Him"-in-vang'-ar,  Heaven's - 
Field,  293. 

Hind'-ar-fjoll,  Brynhild' s 
mountain,  383,  384,  388,  445. 

Hjal'-li,  Atli’s  cook,  491,  492, 
520,  521. 

Hjalm'-ar,  a  warrior,  225. 

Hjalm'-ber-i,  Othin,  103. 

Hjalm'-gun-nar,  a  Gothic  king, 
345,  390,  445- 


Hjalp'-rek,  father  of  A  If,  335, 

336,  358,  359,  365,  369,  454- 
Hjor'-dis,  mother  of  Sigurth, 

226,  270,  277,  293,  333,  335, 
336,  340,  341,  368,  374,  454. 

Hjor'-leif,  father  of  King  Half, 
223. 

Hjor'-leif,  follower  of  Helgi, 
298. 

Hjor'-varth,  a  berserker,  225. 
Hjor'-varth,  father  of  Helgi, 
269-274,  276-278,  284,  287, 
289,  331. 

Hjor'-varth,  father  of  Hvethna, 

227. 

Hjor'-varth,  son  of  Hunding, 
273,  295,  316,  317,  368. 
Hlath'-guth,  a  swan-maiden, 
254-256. 

Hlé'-barth,  a  giant,  128. 
Hlé'-bjorg,  a  mountain,  319, 
320. 

Hlé'-dís,  mother  of  Ottar,  222. 
Hlér,  Ægir,  132,  152. 

Hlés'-ey,  an  island,  132,  139, 
314,  478. 

Hlé'-vang,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Hlif,  Mengloth’s  handmaid, 
248. 

Hlif'-thras-a,  Mengloth's  hand¬ 
maid,  248. 

Hlin,  Frigg,  22. 

Hlith'-skjolf,  Othin' s  seat,  86, 
88,  107,  108,  480,  487. 

Hlokk,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 
Hlör'-rith-i,  Thor,  135,  140, 


[  569] 


Index 


143,  147,  149,  169,  176,  178, 
182. 

Illoth'-varth,  follower  of 
Helgi,  280. 

Hloth'-vér,  a  Frankish  king , 
459- 

Hloth'-vér,  father  of  Hervor, 
254-256,  259. 

Hlöth'-yn,  Jorth,  23. 

Hlym'-dal-ir,  Brynhild’s  home, 
444. 

Hnifl'-ung,  son  of  Hogni,  498, 
515,  529. 

Hnifl'-ungs,  the  people  of  Gjuki 
(Nibelungs) ,  291,  305. 

Hnik'-ar,  Othin,  103,  357,  366, 
3  67- 

Hnik'-uth,  Othin,  103,  104. 

Hp'-alf,  a  Danish  king,  437, 
454* 

Hp'-alf,  King  Half  of  Hortha- 
land,  223,  224. 

Hp'-brök,  a  hawk,  102. 

Hodd'-mim-ir,  Mimir,  80. 

Hodd'-rof-nir,  Mimir  (?) ,  393, 
394- 

Hog'-ni,  brother  of  Sigar,  312, 

313- 

Hog'-ni,  father  of  Sigrun,  296, 
306,  308,  312,  313,  316-319, 
323,  328,  329. 

Hog'-ni,  son  of  Gjuki,  226,  343, 
350,  354»  361,  404-406,  421, 
425-427,  429,  431,  434,  447- 
449,  453,  456,  457,  459‘46i, 
467,  469,  472,  476,  477,  482, 
484-487,  490-93,  498-500,  502- 


506,  509,  511,  512,  514,  515, 
517-521,  523,  529-533,  539, 
541,  543,  546-548. 

Hpk'-on,  father  of  Thor  a,  419, 

454,  455- 
Hoi,  a  river,  95. 

Holm'-garth,  Russia,  222. 
Holth,  son  of  Karl,  209. 
Hon'-ir,  a  god,  8,  20,  25,  162, 

358,  359,  493- 
Hpr,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Hpr,  Othin,  10,  51-53,  60,  103. 
Horn,  a  river,  237. 

Horn'-bor-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 
Horth'-a-l  and,  Half’s  kingdom, 
222,  223. 

Hörv'-ir,  follower  of  Hrolf, 
224. 

Hos'-vir,  son  of  Thrall,  206. 
Hoth,  slayer  of  Baldr,  15,  25, 
161,  198,  228. 

Hoth'-brodd,  son  of  Granmar, 
269,  270,  291,  296,  297,  301, 
304-306,  309,  316,  317,  319, 
321,  322. 

Hp'-tún,  Helgi’ s  home,  293,  298. 
Hpv"-a-mpl',  the  Ballad  of  the 
High  One,  4,  28-68,  71,  75, 
112,  117,  130,  188,  193,  205, 
215,  236,  237,  247,  357,  367, 
368,  379,  387,  393,  397. 
Hp'-varth,  son  of  Hunding, 
295. 

Hræ'-svelg,  an  eagle,  21,  78, 
115. 

Hran'-i,  a  berserker,  225. 


[570] 


Index 


Hrauth'-ung,  ancestor  of  Hjor- 
dis,  22 6. 

Hrauth'-ung,  father  of  Geir- 
röth,  85. 

Hreira,  son  of  Thrœll,  20 6. 
Hreith'-mar,  father  of  Regin ,  7, 
357-359,  361-363- 
Hrim'-fax-i,  a  horse,  72. 
Hrim'-gerth,  a  giantess,  189, 
*71,  278-283. 

Hrlm"-gerth-a-m9r,  the  Ballad 
of  Hrimgerth,  271,  278-284. 
Hrim'-grim-nir,  a  giant,  118. 
Hrim'-nir,  a  giant,  115,  228. 
Hring,  a  warrior,  306,  307. 
Hring'-stath-ir,  Ringsted,  293, 
308. 

Hring'-stoth,  Ringsted  (?) ,  293. 
Hrist,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Hrith,  a  river,  95,  237. 

Hrö'-ar,  brother  of  Borghild 
(?),  334- 

Hrolf  (the  Old),  King  of 
Gautland,  224. 

Hrol'-laug,  a  warrior,  319,  320. 
Hrö'-mund,  a  warrior,  331. 
Hrö'-mund-ar  Sag'-a  Greips'- 
son-ar,  the  Saga  of  Hromund 
Greipsson,  311,  331. 

Hron,  a  river,  95,  237. 

Hröpt,  Othin,  25,  166,  393. 
Hröpt'-a-týr,  Othin,  66,  105. 
Hro'-rek,  King  of  Denmark, 

227. 

Hross'-thjof,  son  of  Hrimnir, 

228. 


Hröth,  a  giant,  142. 

Hröth'-rnar,  lover  of  Sigrlin, 
275,  276,  278,  286. 

Hröth'-vit-nir,  Fenrir,  100,  164. 

Hrot'-ti,  a  sword,  385. 

Hrung'-nir,  a  giant,  125,  126, 
143,  171,  172,  394. 

Hrym,  a  giant,  21. 

Hug'-in,  a  raven,  92. 

Hum'-lung,  son  of  Hjorvarth, 
272,  273. 

Hund'-ing,  enemy  of  Sigmund, 
269,  270,  273,  294,  295,  307, 
309-311,  313,  315,  316,  326, 

335,  336,  342,  343,  357,  35§, 
365,  368,  369. 

Hund'-land,  Handing’s  king¬ 
dom,  294,  310,  311. 

Hver'-gel-mir,  a  spring,  94. 

Hveth'-na,  mother  of  Haki,  227. 

Hym'-ir,  a  giant,  77,  138-150, 
163. 

Hym"-is-kvith'-a,  the  Lay  of 
Hymir,  21,  77,  116,  122,  138- 
152,  163,  170,  174,  179,  180, 
182»  183,  391. 

Hym'-ling,  son  of  Hjorvarth, 
273- 

Hynd'-la,  a  giantess,  217-220, 
222,  231-233. 

Hynd"-lu-ljöth',  the  Poem  of 
Hyndla,  115,  132,  154,  167, 
203,  217-233,  273,  292,  307, 
3H,  350,  427,  454,  457- 

If'  -ing,  a  river,  72,  131. 

Im,  son  of  V afthruthnir ,  70. 


[571  ] 


Index 


Imth,  a  giant,  304. 

Imth,  mother  of  Heimdall,  229. 

Ing'-un,  sister  of  Njorth  (?), 
165. 

Ing'-un-ar^Freyr,  Freyr,  165. 

In'-stein,  father  of  Ottar,  220, 
222,  224. 

Ir'-i,  a  dwarf,  247. 

Is'-olf,  son  of  Olmoth,  224. 

Is'-ung,  a  warrior,  297. 

Ith'-a-voll,  meeting-place  of 
the  gods,  5,  24. 

Ith'-i,  brother  of  Thjazi,  128. 

Ith'-mund,  follower  of  Hjor- 
varth,  273,  274. 

Ith'-un,  a  goddess,  102,  113, 
128,  152,  157,  158,  175. 

I'-vald-i,  a  dwarf,  101. 

I'-var,  King  of  Sweden,  227. 

Jafn'-hpr,  Othin,  103,  104. 

Jalk,  Othin,  104,  105. 

Jar'-i,  a  dwarf,  7,  247. 

Jar'-iz-leif,  Atli’s  emissary, 
456,  457- 

Jar'-iz-skar,  Atli’s  emissary, 
456,  457. 

Jarl,  son  of  Rig,  212-215. 

Jarn'-sax-a,  a  giantess,  125. 

Jarn'-sax-a,  mother  of  Heim¬ 
dall,  229. 

Jof'-ur-mar,  son  of  Dag,  223. 

Jön'-ak,  father  of  Hamther, 
439,  447,  536,  538,  542,  546, 
548,  550,  553- 

Jor'-mun-rek,  Ermanarich,  225, 
326,  339,  407,  437,  439,  447, 


451,  538-540,  546,  549,  551- 
554- 

Jorth,  Earth,  12,  23,  24,  123, 
136,  170,  174,  175,  389. 

Joth,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 
Jot'-un-heim,  the  world  of  the 
giants,  3,  5,  6,  21,  107,  in, 
128,  179-181,  186. 

Kar'-a,  daughter  of  Halfdan, 
272,  310,  311,  314,  316,  330, 
331,  345- 

Kar'-i,  ancestor  of  Ketil,  224. 
Karl,  son  of  Rig,  208,  209. 
Kár'"-u-ljöth/,  the  Poem  of 
Kara,  272,  311,  314,  315,  331. 
Kef'-sir,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 
Ker'-laug,  a  river,  96. 

Ket'-il  Horth'-a=Kar'-i,  hus¬ 
band  of  Hildigun,  223,  224. 
Kil'-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Kjal'-ar,  Othin,  104. 

Kjár,  father  of  Olrun,  254-256, 
485. 

Kleg'-gi,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 
Klúr,  son  of  T  hr  cell,  206. 
Klypp,  father  of  Ketil,  223. 
Kné'-fröth,  Atli’s  messenger, 

448,  482,  483,  502. 

Kolg'-a,  daughter  of  Ægir, 

299. 

Kon,  son  of  Rig,  201,  209,  210. 
214,  215. 

236,  256,  306. 

Kormt,  a  river,  96. 

KosF-ber-a,  wife  of  Hogni, 

449,  500,  502-506,  510. 


[  572  ] 


Index 


Kumb'-a,  daughter  of  Thrall, 
20  7. 

Kund,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Læ'-gjarn,  Loki,  245. 

Læ'-ráth,  Yggdrasil,  94. 

Læv'-a-tein,  a  sword,  245. 

Lauf'-ey,  mother  of  Loki,  9, 
157,  168,  177-179. 

Leg'-gjald-i,  son  of  Thrall, 
206. 

Leipt,  a  river,  95,  323. 

Leir'-brim-ir,  Ymir  (?),  242. 

Lett'-fet-i,  a  horse,  96. 

Lif,  mother  of  the  new  race,  80. 

LIf'-thras-ir,  father  of  the  new 
race,  80. 

Lim'-a-fjord,  a  fjord,  501,  510. 

Lit,  a  dwarf,  7  . 

Ljöth'-a-tal,  the  List  of 
Charms,  28,  44,  60,  63,  236. 

Lodd'-fáf-nir,  a  singer,  28,  52- 
59,  67. 

Lodd^-faf-nis-mpr,  the  Ballad 
of  Loddfafnir,  28,  67,  387, 
397* 

Lof'-ar,  a  dwarf,  7,  8. 

Lofn’-heith,  daughter  of 
Hreithmar,  3*63. 

Log'-a-fjoll,  a  mountain,  294, 
295,  316,  317. 

Lok"-a-sen'-na,  Loki’s  Wran¬ 
gling,  4,  16,  26,  102,  107,  130, 

134,  139,  I5I-I75,  177,  ^8, 
180,  184,  196,  218,  228,  232, 
236,  256,  306. 


Lok'-i,  a  god,  1,  8,  9,  11,  15-17, 
21,  22,  25,  101,  102,  128,  130, 
134,  146,  149-173,  I75-I79, 
196,  198,  200,  228,  23O-232, 
245-247,  303,  357-362,  417, 
493- 

Lön'-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Lopt,  Loki,  154,  231,  245. 

Loth'-in,  a  giant,  282. 

Löth'-ur,  Loki,  8,  9,  154. 

Lút,  son  of  Thrall,  206. 

Lyf'-ja-berg,  a  mountain,  248, 
251. 

Lyng'-heith,  daughter  of 
Hreithmar,  363,  364. 

Lyng'-vi,  son  of  Hunding,  336, 
368,  369. 

Lyr,  M engloth’s  hall,  247. 

Mag'-ni,  son  of  Thor,  82,  125, 
135* 

Mán'-i,  Moon,  74,  75,  99. 

MeiL-i,  brother  of  Thor,  125. 

Meln'-ir,  a  horse,  306. 

Men'-gloth,  beloved  of  Svip- 
dag,  234-236,  238,  239,  241, 
248-251,  350,  388,  441. 

Men'-ja,  a  giantess,  436. 

Mim  (or  Mim'-ir),  a  water- 
spirit,  12,  13,  20,  61,  81,  242, 
393,  394- 

Mím'-a-meith,  Y ggdrasil,  242, 
243. 

Mim'-ir,  brother  of  Regin,  359. 

Mist,  a  Valkyrie,  99,  305. 


[  573  ] 


Index 


Mith'-garth,  the  world  of  men, 
3,  4,  92,  100,  101,  129,  186, 
221,  223. 

Mith"-garths-orm',  a  serpent, 
17,  21,  23,  24,  122,  139,  145, 
146,  I70,  196,  230. 

Mith'-vit-nir,  a  giant,  104. 

Mjoll'-nir,  Thor’s  hammer,  82, 
126,  149,  169-171,  174,  181. 

Mjoth'-vit-nir,  a  dwarf,  6,  7. 

Mog,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Mog'-thras-ir,  a  giant  (?) ,  82. 

Mö'-in,  a  serpent,  98. 

Mö''-ins-heim'-ar,  a  battlefield, 
304,  322. 

Morn'-a-land,  an  eastern  coun¬ 
try,  470. 

Möth'-i,  son  of  Thor,  82,  148. 

Möth'-ir,  mother  of  Jarl,  204, 
210-212. 

Möt'-sog-nir,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Mund"-il-f er'-i,  father  of  Sol, 
5,  74,  99- 

Mun'-in,  a  raven,  92. 

Mu'-spell,  father  of  the  fire- 
dwellers,  22,  165. 

Mii'-spells-heim,  home  of  the 
fire-dwellers,  3,  21,  73,  100. 

Myln'-ir,  a  horse,  306. 

Myrk'-heim,  Myrkwood  (Atli’s 
land),  498. 

Myrk'-wood,  a  forest  in  Atli’s 
land,  476,  483,  484,  487,  498. 

Myrk'-wood,  a  forest  in  Hoth- 
brodd’s  land,  306. 

Myrk'-wood,  a  forest  in  Mus- 
pellsheim,  165. 


Myrk'-wood,  a  forest  in  Nith- 
uth’s  land,  255,  256. 

Nab'-bi,  a  dwarf,  220. 
Nagl'-far,  a  ship,  21. 

Náin,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Nal,  Laufey,  168. 

Nal'-i,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Nan'-na,  daughter  of  Nokkvi, 
224. 

Nan'-na,  wife  of  Baldr,  91. 
Nár,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Narf'-i,  Nor,  75,  192. 

Narf'-i,  son  of  Loki,  16,  167, 
172,  173- 

Ná'-strond,  Corpse-Strand,  17. 
Nep,  father  of  Nanna,  91. 
Ner'-i,  a  giant  (?),  292. 
Nifl'-heim,  the  world  of  the 
dead,  3,  94. 

Nifl'-hel,  land  of  the  dead,  80, 
196. 

Nifl'-ungs,  the  people  of  Gjuki 
(Nibelungs),  408,  447,  448, 
486,  487,  489,  492,  493,  515, 
517,  541- 

Nip'-ing,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Nith,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 
Nith'-a-fjoll,  a  mountain,  16, 

26,  27. 

Nith"-a-vel'-lir,  h  ome  of  the 
dwarfs,  3,  16. 

Nith'-hogg,  a  dragon,  17,  26, 

27,  97-99- 

Nith'-i,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Nith'-jung,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 


I  574  ] 


Index 


Nith'-uth,  king  of  the  Njars, 
253-255»  257-268. 
Njals'-sag-a,  the  Saga  of  Njal, 

399- 

Njars,  the  people  of  Nithuth, 
254,  257,  259,  265,  268. 
Njorth,  a  Wane,  9,  10,  78,  79, 

90,  91,  ior,  107,  108,  119,  120, 
128,  152,  161-163,  165,  167, 
175,  1 79,  180,  228. 

Nö'-a-tún,  home  of  Njorth,  90, 

91,  108,  179,  180. 

Nokk'-vi,  father  of  Nanna,  224. 
Non,  a  river,  95. 

Nor  (or  Norv'-i),  father  of 
Not,  75,  192. 

Nör'-i}  a  dwarf,  6. 
Norn"-a-gests-thattr',  the  Story 
of  Nornagest,  336,  356,  364, 
369,  442,  444,  445. 

North'-ri,  a  dwarf ,  6. 

Not,  a  river,  95. 

Npt,  Night,  66,  75,  192,  389. 
Ny'-i,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Nyr,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Ný'-ráth,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Nyt,  a  river,  95. 

Odd'-rún,  sister  of  Atli,  430, 
438,  448,  449,  469-474,  476, 
478,  479- 

Odd"-rún-ar-grátr',  the  Lament 
of  Oddrun,  132,  420,  438,  447, 

449,  450,  469-479,  483,  494, 
522,  532. 

Ofn'-ir,  a  serpent,  98. 

Ofn'-ir,  Othin,  105. 


O'-in,  father  of  Andvari,  360. 

Ökk"-vin-kalf'-a,  daughter  of 
T  hr  cell,  207. 

O'-köl-nir,  a  volcano  (?),  16. 

Ol'-motb,  father  of  Isolf,  224. 

Ol'-rún,  a  swan-maiden,  254- 

_  257,  485- 

Om'-i,  Othin,  104. 

On'-ar,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Or'-i,  a  dwarf,  8,  247. 

Ork'-ning,  brother  of  Kostbera, 
449,  509,  510,  517- 

Ormt,  a  river,  96. 

Orv'-and-il,  husband  of  Groa, 
234- 

Orv'-ar=Odd,  a  warrior,  225. 

Orv'-ar=Odds'-sag-a,  the  Saga 
of  Orvar-Odd,  225. 

Orv'-a-sund,  a  bay,  298. 

Osk'-i,  Othin,  104. 

O'-sköp-nir,  an  island,  376. 

Os'-olf,  son  of  Olmoth,  224. 

Oth,  husband  of  Freyja,  n,  12, 

_  161,  220,  232. 

Oth'-in,  chief  of  the  gods,  1,  3, 
4,  8-15,  19-26,  28,  32,  45,  48- 
53,  60-63,  66,  68-84,  86,  88, 
89,  91,  92,  94,  97,  98,  101- 
106,  108,  114,  117,  121,  122, 
125,  126,  129,  131,  133,  134, 
136,  139-HI,  145,  H9,  151, 
152,  155,  157-160,  1 66,  167, 
170,  174,  179,  182,  185,  195- 
200,  202,  203,  213,  218,  219, 
221,  226,  228-231,  236,  274, 
293-295,  302,  308,  319,  323- 
327,  330,  332,  335,  339,  342, 


Index 


357-359,  361,  365,  366,  371, 
372,  384,  390,  393-395,  416, 
428,  445,  474,  483,  487,  493, 

494,  553* 

Oth'-lings,  a  mythical  race,  221, 
223,  226. 

Oth'-rör-ir,  a  goblet,  51,  61. 

Otr,  brother  of  Regin,  358,  359, 

_  362. 

Ot'-tar,  a  warrior,  217-227, 
231-233. 

Ræv'-il,  a  sea-king,  366. 

Rag'-nar  Loth'-brök,  a  Danish 
king,  366. 

Rand'-grlth,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Rand'-vér,  son  of  Jormunrek, 
439,  538,  551* 

Rand'-vér,  son  of  Rathbarth, 
227. 

Ran'-i,  Othin,  236. 

Rat'-a-tosk,  a  squirrel,  97. 

Ráth'-barth,  a  Russian  king, 
227. 

Ráth'-grith,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Ráths'-ey,  an  island,  124. 

Ráth'-svith,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Rat'-i,  a  gimlet,  50. 

Reg'-in,  a  dwarf,  7,  359. 

Reg'-in,  son  of  Iireithmar,  7, 
343,  356-359,  361-366,  369- 
372,  377-383,  403. 

Reg'-in-leif,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Reg"-ins-m9r,  the  Ballad  of 
Regin,  7,  8,  114,  151,  270,  295, 
308,  333,  336,  342,  343,  356- 
371,  376,  378,  384,  386,  387, 


402,  41 1,  426,  428,  448,  450, 
493,  538. 

Reif'-nir,  a  berserker,  225. 

Rig,  Heimdall  (?),  3,  201-204, 
207,  208,  210-212,  215,  216. 

RIgs'-thul-a,  the  Song  of  Rig, 
3,  90,  167,  183,  201-216,  230, 
428,  484. 

Rin,  a  river,  95. 

Rind,  mother  of  Vali,  198,  236. 

Rin'-nand-i,  a  river,  95. 

Rist'-il,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 

Rith'-il,  a  sword,  380. 

Rog'-a-land,  Norway,  281. 

Rog'-heim,  Home  of  Battle,  289. 

Rpn,  wife  of  Ægir,  280,  300, 
359* 

Rosk'-va,  sister  of  Thjalfi,  141. 

Roth'-uls-fjoll,  a  mountain,  289. 

Roth'-uls-voll,  a  field,  276. 

Ruth,  a  river,  237. 

Sæ'-far-i,  father  of  Ulf,  222. 

Sæ'-hrim-nir,  a  boar,  92. 

Sæk'-in,  a  river,  95. 

Sæ'-kon-ung,  father  of  Hildi- 
gun,  223. 

Sæ'-morn,  a  river,  275. 

Sæ'-reith,  wife  of  Hjorvarth, 
272,  273. 

Sæ'-var-stath,  an  island,  261, 
262. 

Sag'-a,  a  goddess,  89,  302. 

Sal'-gof-nir,  a  cock,  329. 

Sáms'-ey,  an  island,  160. 

Sann'-get-al,  Othin,  103. 

Sath,  Othin,  103. 


[  576] 


Index 


Sax'-i,  a  southern  king,  467. 

Segg,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Sess'-rym-nir,  Freyja’s  hall,  91, 
175. 

Sev'-a-fjoll,  Sigrun’s  home, 
319,  323,  325,  327-329* 

Sif,  Thor's  wife,  88,  101,  134, 
140,  143,  148,  151,  157,  168, 
180,  184. 

Sig'-ar,  a  Danish  king,  293. 

Sig'-ar,  brother  of  Hogni,  312, 
313* 

Sig'-ar,  father  of  Siggeir,  455. 

Sig'-ar,  Helgi’s  messenger,  287, 
288. 

Sig'-ars-holm,  an  island,  277. 

Sig'-ars-voll,  a  battlefield,  277, 
287,  293. 

Sig'-fath-er,  Othin,  23,  103,  104, 
170. 

Sig'-geir,  husband  of  Signy, 
302,  303,  332,  455. 

Sig'-mund,  son  of  Sigurth,  407, 
424,  428,  429,  456,  460. 

Sig'-mund,  son  of  Volsung,  218, 
219,  226,  270,  276,  290-295, 

301,  302,  307,  310,  311,  315, 

317,  318,  330-336,  341,  364- 

366,  368,  369,  373,  374,  388, 

389,  432,  455. 

Sig'-ny,  sister  of  Sigmund,  270. 
290,  293,  302,  332,  333,  455. 

Sigr'-drif-a,  Brynhild,  296,  384- 
386,  388,  390,  391,  403. 

Sigr"-drif-u-m9l',  the  Ballad  of 
the  Victory-Bringer,  4,  99, 
100,  119,  151,  293,  339,  344, 


356,  357,  370,  381,  384-403, 
41 1,  442,  444,  445,  450,  470, 
472. 

Sigr'-lin,  wife  of  Hjorvarth, 
271-276,  287. 

Sig'-rún,  wife  of  Helgi,  14,  269, 
270,  289,  296,  299,  300,  306, 
307,  309-316,  318-320,  323, 

325-330,  339,  345* 

Sig'-trygg,  a  king,  222. 

Sig'-tyr,  Othin,  494. 

Sig'-urth,  son  of  Sigmund,  8, 

226,  234,  260,  269,  270,  273, 
2 77,  293,  295,  296,  303,  308, 
333,  335-359,  361-380,  382- 
389,  391,  395,  396,  400,  402- 
407,  409-412,  414-433,  435, 
437,  439-442,  445-448,  450- 
457,  460,  465,  469,  475,  476, 
481,  484,  490,  493,  513,  518, 

523,  532-534,  536-544,  546- 
548. 

Sig"-urth-a-kvith'-a  en  Skam'- 
ma,  the  Short  Lay  of  Sigurth, 
93,  241,  308,  407,  410,  416- 
441,  443,  448-450,  453,  459, 
470,  475,  488,  493,  534,  538, 
539,  543,  547* 

Sig'-urth  Ring,  son  of  Randver, 

227. 

Sig'-yn,  wife  of  Loki,  16,  167, 
172,  173. 

Silf'-rin-topp,  a  horse,  96. 
Sind'-ri,  a  dwarf,  16. 
Sin'-fjot-li,  son  of  Sigmund, 
270,  290,  293,  300-304,  307, 
309,  318,  321,  322,  332-335* 


[  577  ] 


Index 


Sin'-ir,  a  horse ,  96. 

Sin'-mor-a,  a  giantess,  243,  245- 
247. 

Sin'-rjöth,  wife  of  Hjorvarth, 
272,  273. 

Sith,  a  river,  95. 

SIth'-gran-i,  Othin,  185. 

Sith'-hott,  Othin,  103. 

Sith'-skegg,  Othin,  103. 

Skáf'-ith,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Skáld"-skap-ar-mál,  the  Trea¬ 
tise  on  Poetics,  189,  192,  221, 

274,  359,  370,  538,  547- 

Skat'-a-lund,  a  forest,  445. 

Skath'-i,  a  goddess,  90,  108, 
128,  152,  157,  1 67,  168,  172, 
180,  228. 

Skegg'-jold,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Skeith'-brim-ir,  a  horse,  96. 

Skek'-kil,  father  of  Skurhild, 
224. 

Skelf'-ir,  a  king,  221. 

Skilf'-ing,  Othin,  105,  221. 

Skilf'-ings,  descendants  of 
Skelfir,  221,  223. 

Skin'-fax-i,  a  horse,  71,  96. 

Skirf'-ir,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Skirn'-ir,  Frey/s  servant,  107- 
115,  119,  120,  152. 

Skii-n'^is-mpr,  the  Ballad  of 
Skirnir,  21,  22,  78,  86,  88,  101, 
107-121,  126,  149,  152,  162, 
163,  165,  174,  175,  193,  218, 
228,  282,  360. 

Skith'-blath-nir,  a  ship,  101, 
102. 

Skjold,  a  Danish  king,  221. 


Skjöld"-ung-a-sag'-a,  the  Saga 
of  the  Skjoldungs,  216. 
Skjold'-ungs,  descendants  of 
Skjold,  221-223. 

Skog'-ul,  a  Valkyrie,  14,  99. 
Skoll,  a  wolf,  18,  81,  93,  100. 
Skor'-u-strond,  home  of  Varin, 
281. 

Skrym'-ir,  a  giant,  122,  130, 
170,  171. 

Skuld,  a  Norn,  9. 

Skuld,  a  Valkyrie,  14. 
Skur'-hild,  daughter  of  Skek- 
kil,  224. 

Slag'-fith,  brother  of  Völund, 
254-257. 

Sleip'-nir,  Othin’s  horse,  97, 
102,  126,  160,  196,  230,  342, 
394- 

Slith,  a  river,  16,  95. 

Smith,  son  of  Karl,  209. 
Snæ'-fjoll,  a  mountain,  293. 
Snæv'-ar,  son  of  Hogni,  449, 
487,  509,  5I7- 
Snör,  wife  of  Karl,  209. 

Snöt,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 
Sogn,  a  bay,  305. 

Spg'-u-nes,  a  cape,  302. 
Sokk'-mim-ir,  a  giant,  104. 
Sökk'-va-bekk,  Saga’s  dwelling, 
88,  89. 

Söl,  Sun,  74,  75,  79. 

Söl'-ar,  son  of  Hogni,  449, 

487,  509,  517- 

Sol'-bjart,  father  of  Svipdag, 
250. 

Sol'-blind-i,  a  dwarf,  241. 

[  578] 


Index 


Söl'-fjoll,  a  mountain,  293. 

Söl'-heim-ar,  Hothbrodd’s 
home,  304. 

SorT-i,  son  of  Jonak,  361,  439, 
536,  538,  540,  545,  546,  548- 
550,  552-555- 

Spar'-ins-heith,  Sparin’s  Heath, 
306. 

Spor'-vit-nir,  a  horse,  306. 

Sprak'-ki,  daughter  of  Karl, 
210. 

Sprund,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 

Stafns'-nes,  a  cape,  298. 

Stark'-ath,  son  of  Granmar , 
316,  319,  320. 

Stor'-verk,  father  of  Starkath, 
320. 

Strond,  a  river,  95. 

Styr'-kleif-ar,  a  battlefield,  319, 
320. 

Sun,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Surt,  a  giant,  18,  20-22,  73,  82, 
no,  165,  243,  376. 

Suth'-ri,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Sut'-tung,  a  giant,  32,  50-52, 
117,  187,  193. 

Svaf'-nir,  a  king,  273-275,  278. 

Svaf'-nir,  a  serpent,  98. 

Svaf'-nir,  Othin,  105. 

Svafr'-thor-in,  Mengloth’s 
grandfather,  241. 

Sval'-in,  a  shield,  100,  394. 

Svan,  father  of  Scefari,  222. 

Svan'-hild,  daughter  of  Sigurth, 
22 6,  339,  407,  437,  439,  447, 
448,  537,  538,  540-542,  546, 
551- 


Svan'-ni,  daughter  of  Karl, 
210. 

Svár'-ang,  a  giant,  131. 

Svar'-in,  a  hill,  300,  316,  317. 

Svar'-ri,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 

Svart"-alf-a-heim',  the  world 
of  the  dark  elves,  3,  187. 

Svart'-hofth-i,  a  magician,  229. 

Svath"-il-far'-i,  a  stallion,  102, 
159,  160,  196,  230. 

Svav'-a,  daughter  of  Eylimi, 
14,  270,  271,  276-278,  282, 
284,  285,  287-289,  311,  313, 
335,  339,  345- 

Sváv'-a,  wife  of  Sœkonung,  223. 

Sváv'-a-land,  Svafnir’s  coun¬ 
try,  273,  275,  276,  278. 

Svegg'-juth,  a  horse,  304,  305. 

Svein,  son  of  Jarl,  214. 

Sver"-ris-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
Sverrir,  370. 

Svip'-al,  Othin,  103. 

Svip'-dag,  son  of  Solbjart,  234- 
236,  238-250. 

Svip"-dags-mpr,  the  Ballad  of 
Svipdag,  60,  81,  154,  234-251, 
350,  388,  441,  472. 

Svip'-uth,  a  horse,  304,  305. 

Svith'-rir,  Othin,  104. 

Svith'-ur,  Othin,  104. 

Svi'-ur,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Svol,  a  river,  95. 

Svps'-uth,  father  of  Summer, 

75- 

Sylg,  a  river,  95. 


[579  1 


Index 


Thakk'-ráth,  Nithuth’s  thrall, 
268. 

Thegn,  son  of  Karl,  209. 

Thekk,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Thekk,  Othin,  103. 

Thir,  wife  of  Thrall,  206. 

Thith"-reks-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
Theoderich,  252,  254,  262, 
265,  267,  268,  359,  410,  426, 
530. 

Thjalf'-i,  Thor’s  servant,  126, 
127,  133,  Hi.  H9- 

Thjaz'-i,  a  giant,  89,  90,  128, 
152,  167,  168,  175,  228. 

Thjöth'-mar,  father  of  Thjoth- 
rek,  466,  467. 

Thjöth'-num-a,  a  river,  95. 

Thjöth'-rek,  Theoderich,  451, 
465-467,  517. 

Thjöth'-rör-ir,  a  dwarf,  66. 

Thjöth'-var-a,  Mengloth’s 
handmaid,  248. 

Thjöth'-vit-nir,  Skoll,  93. 

Thol,  a  river,  95. 

Tholl'-ey,  an  island,  282. 

Thör,  a  god,  12,  23,  24,  82,  83, 
88,  93,  94,  96,  121-149,  151, 
152,  168-171,  174,  176,  178- 
180,  182-193,  219,  228,  234, 
303,  394- 

Thör'-a,  daughter  of  Hokon, 
419,  454,  455- 

Thör'-a,  wife  of  Dag,  222,  454. 

Thör'-in,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Thör'-ir,  follower  of  Hrolf, 
224. 


Thörs'-nes,  a  cape,  303. 

Thræll,  son  of  Rig,  205,  206. 
Thráin,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Thrith'-i,  Othin,  103. 

Thrör,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Thrör,  Othin,  104. 

Thriith,  a  Valkyrie,  99. 

Thrúth,  daughter  of  Thor,  184. 
Thrúth'-gel-mir,  a  giant,  76, 

77- 

Thruth'-heim,  Thor’s  home,  88. 
Thrym,  a  giant,  174,  176,  177, 
179-182. 

Thrym'-gjol,  a  gate,  241. 
Thrym'-heim,  Thjazi’s  home, 
89,  90. 

Thryms'-kvith-a,  the  Lay  of 
Thrym,  12,  82,  107,  122,  128, 
129,  143,  159,  166,  169,  174- 
183,  185,  195,  210,  252,  274, 
471. 

Thund,  a  river,  93. 

Thund,  Othin,  63,  105. 

Thuth,  Othin,  103. 

Thyn,  a  river,  95. 

Tind,  a  berserker,  225. 
Tot"-rug-hyp'-ja,  daughter  of 
Thrall,  207. 

Tron"-u-bein'-a,  daughter  of 
Thrall,  207. 

Tron'-u-eyr,  Crane-Strand, 
298. 

Tveg'-gi,  Othin,  25. 

Týr,  a  god,  18,  140-143,  H7“ 
149,  152,  163,  164,  228,  391. 
Tyrf'-ing,  a  berserker,  225. 

[  580] 


Index 


Ulf,  follower  of  Hrolf,  224. 

Ulf,  son  of  Scefari,  222. 

Ulf'-dal-ir,  V'ólund’s  home,  254, 
255,  257,  259. 

Ulf'-riin,  mother  of  Heimdall, 
229. 

Ulf'-sjár,  a  lake,  254,  255. 

UI1,  a  god,  88,  100,  228,  494. 

Un"-a-vag'-ar,  a  harbor,  300. 

Un'-i,  a  dwarf,  247. 

Urth,  a  Norn,  9,  52,  96,  236, 

_  250,  251. 

Ut'-garth-a=Lok'-i,  a  giant, 
122,  130. 

Uth,  daughter  of  Ægir,  323, 
466. 

Uth,  Othin,  103. 

Vaf'-thrúth-nir,  a  giant,  68-83. 

Vaf^-thruth-nis-m^l',  the  Bal¬ 
lad  of  Vafthruthnir,  4,  5,  21, 
68-84,  99,  100,  1 1 5,  1 1 6,  1 3 1, 
141,  149,  152,  174,  183,  192, 
242,  247,  360,  368,  375,  376, 
378. 

Vak,  Othin,  105. 

Val'-a-skjolf,  Othin’s  home,  88. 

Val'-bjorg,  Grimhild’s  land, 
461. 

Vald'-ar,  a  Danish  king,  456, 
457- 

Val'-fath-er,  Othin,  3,  12,  104. 

Vaf-grind,  a  gate,  93. 

Val'-hall,  Othiris  hall,  3,  14, 
15,  25,  79,  88,  89,  92-94,  218, 
220,  232,  325,  326,  441,  474, 
480,  483. 


Val'-i,  a  god,  15,  82,  198,  227, 
228,  236. 

Vál'-i,  son  of  Loki,  16,  167,  172, 
173- 

Val'-land,  Slaughter-Land,  129, 
136,  254,  255,  443. 

Val'-tam,  father  of  Vegtam, 
197. 

Vam,  a  river,  165. 

Van'-a-heim,  home  of  the 
Wanes,  3,  187. 

Vand'-ils-ve,  a  shrine,  324. 

Van'-ir,  the  Wanes,  1,  10. 

Var,  a  dwarf,  247. 

Var'-in,  a  Norwegian  king  (?) , 
281,  302. 

Var'-ins-fjord,  a  bay,  298,  299. 

Var'-kald,  father  of  Vindkald, 
240. 

Vath'-gel-mir,  a  river,  360. 

Vé,  brother  of  Othin,  4,  26, 
160. 

Veg'-dras-il,  a  dwarf,  247. 

Veg'-svin,  a  river,  95. 

Veg'-tam,  Othin,  195,  197,  199. 

Veg"-tams-kvith'-a,  the  Lay  of 
Vegtam,  195. 

VeiT-ents-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
Velent,  252. 

Ver'-a-tyr,  Othin,  87,  88. 

Ver'-land,  Land  of  Men,  136. 

Verth'-and-i,  a  Norn,  9. 

Vestr'-i,  a  dwarf,  6. 

Vestr'-sal-ir,  Rind’s  home,  198. 

Vethr'-fol-nir,  a  hawk,  97. 

Ve'-ur,  Thor,  142,  144,  145. 

Vif,  daughter  of  Karl,  210. 


[581] 


Index 


Vlg'-blær,  Helgi’s  horse,  325. 

Vig'-dal-ir,  Battle-Dale,  324, 
325- 

Vigg,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Vig'-rith,  a  field,  73,  376. 

Vil'-i,  brother  of  Othin,  4,  26, 
160. 

Vil'-meith,  a  dwarf  (?),  229. 

ViT-mund,  lover  of  Borgny, 
469-472. 

Vin,  a  river,  95. 

Vin'-bjorg,  Grimhild’s  land, 
461. 

Vind'-alf,  a  dwarf,  7, 

Vind'-heim,  Wind-Home,  25, 
26. 

Vind'-kald,  Svipdag,  240. 

Vind'-ljön-i,  Vindsval,  75. 

Vind'-sval,  father  of  Winter, 
75- 

Ving'-i,  Ail'd s  messenger,  448, 
482,  501,  502,  510,  512-514, 
517- 

Ving'-nir,  Thor,  82,  135,  174. 

Ving'-skorn-ir,  a  horse,  384. 

Ving'-thör,  Thor,  135,  174,  185, 
186. 

Vin'-gj,  a  river,  95. 

Virf'-ir,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Vit,  a  dwarf,  7. 

Vith,  a  river,  95. 

Vith'-ar,  a  god,  23,  82,  83,  91, 
152,  155,  156,  164,  170,  228. 

Vith'-ga,  son  of  Völund,  268. 

Vith'-i,  Vithar’s  land,  91. 

Vith'-of-nir,  a  cock,  243,  245, 
246. 


Vith'-olf,  a  dwarf  (?),  229. 

Vith'-rir,  Othin,  160,  295. 

Vith'-ur,  Othin,  104. 

Vgjf'-uth,  Othin,  105. 

Vols'-ung,  father  of  Sigmund, 
218,  219,  226,  270,  293,  302, 

307,  310,  332-334,  366,  421. 

Vols"-ung-a-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
the  Volsungs,  218,  226,  270, 
276,  297,  299,  301,  332-334, 
336,  340,  342,  345,  349,  350, 

352,  353,  356,  361,  365,  366, 

368,  370,  371,  373,  375,  377- 

379,  381,  383,  386,  391,  395, 

396,  399,  400,  402,  403,  405, 

407,  410-412,  418,  419,  425, 

427,  433,  438,  440,  448,  450, 

453,  455-458,  465,  469,  477, 

478,  480,  486,  487,  500,  506, 

508,  512-514,  518-522,  525- 

530,  552,  534,  537,  538,  543, 

549,  550,  553,  554- 

Vols'-ungs,  descendants  of 
Volsung,  269-272,  290-352, 

306-311,  318,  319,  332,  333, 

339,  421,  422,  425,  428. 

Vol'-und,  a  smith,  252-262,  264- 
268,  527. 

Vor'-und-ar-kvith'-a,  the  Lay 
of  Völund,  129,  252-268,  296, 
303,  319,  437,  443,  444,  47i, 
485,  493,  527- 

Vol"-u-spp',  the  Wise-Wom¬ 
an’s  Prophecy,  1-28,  52,  61, 
62,  68,  69,  73-75,  77,  78,  80- 
83,  89-91,  93,  95-97,  99-102, 


[  582  ] 


Index 


108,  no,  112-115,  129,  136, 

140,  145,  146,  152,  154,  156, 

160-164,  166,  170,  172-174, 
176,  178,  179,  186,  188,  195, 

196,  198,  200,  203,  217,  218, 

220,  223,  227-232,  236,  242, 

243,  245,  247,  254,  276,  291, 

293,  296,  314,  319,  359,  360, 

375»  393,  394,  416,  444,  508, 

542. 

V9ÍI,  a  river,  95. 

Vond,  a  river,  95. 

Vpr,  a  goddess,  181. 

Y'-dal-ir,  Ull’s  home,  88. 

Ygg,  Othin,  70,  105,  140,  384. 

Ygg'-dras-il,  the  world-ash,  1, 
3,  4,  9,  12,  17,  20,  27,  60,  62, 
81,  94,  96-98,  102,  242,  243. 


Ylf'-ings,  a  Danish  race,  221, 
291,  292,  301,  305,  307,  311, 
3I3-3I5,  329- 
Ylg,  a  river,  95. 

Ym'-ir,  a  giant,  4,  6,  17,  74,  76, 
77,  100,  229,  242. 

Yng  (or  Yng'-vi),  son  of  Half- 
dan  the  Old,  221,  307,  308, 

364,  365. 

Yng"-ling-a-sag'-a,  the  Saga  of 
the  Ynglings,  160,  163. 
Yng'-lings,  descendants  of 
Yng,  221,  223,  307. 

Yng'-vi,  a  dwarf,  8. 

Yng'-vi,  son  of  Hring,  306. 
Yng'-vi,  Yng,  221,  307,  308, 

364,  365- 

Ys'-ja,  daughter  of  Thrall, 

207. 


[  583  ] 


Publications  of 


THE  AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN 
FOUNDATION 

Committee  on  Publications 

William  Witherle  Lawrence,  Professor  of  English 
in  Columbia  University,  Chairman 

John  A.  Gade,  author  of  Charles  the  XII 

Hanna  Astrup  Larsen,  Editor  The  American-Scandi- 
navian  Review 

Henry  Goddard  Leach,  Editor  The  Forum 
Charles  S.  Peterson,  Publisher,  Chicago 

SCANDINAVIAN  CLASSICS 

I.  Comedies  by  Holberg:  Jeppe  of  the  Hill,  The 
Political  Tinker ,  Erasmus  Montanus 

Translated  by  Oscar  James  Campbell,  Jr.,  and  Frederic  Schenck 

II.  Poems  by  Tegnér:  The  Children  of  the  Lord> s 
Supper  and  Frithiofs  Saga 

Translated  by  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow  and  W.  Lewery 
Blackley 

III.  Poems  and  Songs  by  Björnstjerne  Björnson 

Translated  in  the  original  metres,  with  an  Introduction  and  Notes, 
by  Arthur  Hubbell  Palmer 

IV.  Master  Olof,  by  August  Strindberg 

An  historical  play,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Edwin 
Björkman 


[  585  ] 


V.  The  Prose  Edda}  by  Snorri  Sturluson 

Translated  from  the  old  Icelandic,  with  an  Introduction  and 
Notes,  by  Arthur  Gilchrist  Brodeur 

VI.  Modern  Icelandic  Plays ,  by  Jóhan  Sigurjóns- 
son:  Eyvind  of  the  Hills  and  The  Hr  aim  Farm 

Translated  by  Henninge  Krohn  Schanche 

VII.  Marie  Grubb e:  A  Lady  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century ,  by  J.  P.  Jacobsen 

An  historical  romance,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by 
Hanna  Astrup  Larsen 

VIII.  Arnljot  Gelline,  by  Björnstjerne  Björns on 

A  Norse  Epic,  translated  by  William  Morton  Payne 

IX.  Anthology  of  Swedish  Lyrics,  from  1750  to 
1915 

Selections  from  the  greatest  of  Swedish  lyrics,  translated  by 
Charles  Wharton  Stork 

X  &  XI.  Gösta  Berlingys  Saga,  by  Selma  Lagerlöf 

The  English  translation  of  Lillie  Tudeer,  completed  and  care¬ 
fully  edited 

XII.  Sara  Videbeck  (Det  gar  an),  and  The 
Chapel,  by  C.  J.  L.  Almquist 

A  sentimental  journey  with  a  practical  ending,  and  the  tale  of  a 
curate,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Adolph  Burnett 
Benson 

XIII.  Niels  Lyhne,  by  J.  P.  Jacobsen 

A  psychological  novel,  translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by 
Hanna  Astrup  Larsen 

XIV.  The  Family  at  Gilje:  A  Domestic  Story  of 
the  Forties,  by  Jonas  Lie 

Translated  by  Samuel  Coffin  Eastman,  with  an  Introduction  by 
Julius  Emil  Olson 


[  586  ] 


XV  &  XVI.  The  Charles  Men,  by  V erner  von 
Heidenstam 

Tales  from  the  exploits  of  Charles  XII,  translated  by  Charles 
Wharton  Stork,  with  an  Introduction  by  Fredrik  Book 

XVII.  Early  Plays:  Catiline,  The  Warrior’ s  B ar¬ 
row,  Olaf  Liljekrans,  by  Henrik  Ibsen . 

Translated  by  Anders  Orbeck 

XVIII.  The  Book  about  Little  Brother:  A  Story 
of  Married  Life ,  by  Gustaf  af  Geijerstam 

Translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  Edwin  Björkman 

XIX.  A  Book  of  Danish  Verse 

Selections  from  the  works  of  Danish  Poets  from  Oehlenschláger  to 
Johannes  V.  Jensen.  Translated  in  the  original  metres  by  S. 
Foster  Damon  and  Robert  Silliman  Hillyer.  Selected  and 
annotated  by  Oluf  Friis 

XX.  Per  Hallström :  Selected  Short  Stories 

A  collection  of  tales  by  Sweden’s  great  master  of  the  short  story. 
Translated,  with  an  Introduction,  by  F.  J.  Fielden 

Price  $2.00  each 


XXI  &  XXII.  The  Poetic  Edda 

A  complete  metrical  version  of  the  Poetic  or  Elder  Edda,  includ¬ 
ing  the  Lays  of  the  Gods  and  the  Lays  of  the  Heroes,  translated 
from  the  Icelandic  with  a  General  Introduction  and  Notes  by 
Henry  Adams  Bellows.  Two  volumes  bound  as  one. 


SCANDINAVIAN  MONOGRAPHS 

I.  The  Voyages  of  the  Norsemen  to  America 

A  complete  exposition,  with  illustrations  and  maps,  by  William 
Hovgaard  Price  $7.50 

II.  Ballad  Criticism  in  Scandinavia  and  Great 
Britain  during  the  Eighteenth  Century 

A  comparative  study,  by  Sigurd  Bernhard  Hustvedt 

Price  $5.00 


[  587  ] 


III.  The  King’ s  Mirror 

A  famous  treatise,  translated  from  the  Norwegian  of  the  thir¬ 
teenth  century,  with  an  Historical  Introduction,  by  Laurence 
Marcellus  Larson  Price  $5.00 

IV.  The  Heroic  Legends  of  Denmark 

Revised  and  expanded  for  this  edition  by  the  author,  the  late 
Axel  Olrik,  in  collaboration  with  the  translator,  Lee  M.  Hol¬ 
lander  Price  $5.00 

V.  Scandinavian  Art:  A  Survey  of  Swedish  Art, 
by  Carl  G.  Laurin;  Danish  Art  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century ,  by  Emil  Hannover ;  Modern  N orwegian 
Art ,  by  Jens  Thiis ;  Introduction  bv  Christian 
Brinton 

The  first  comprehensive  discussion  of  the  artistic  production  of 
the  three  Northern  nations;  in  one  volume  of  660  pages  with  375 
illustrations,  including  frontispiece  in  color.  Price  $8.00 


THE 

AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN  REVIEW 


An  Illustrated  Magazine,  presenting  the  progress  of  life  and 
literature  in  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Norway 
Price  $3.00  a  year 


For  information  regarding  the  above  publications,  address  the 
Secretary  of  the  American-Scandinavian 

Foundation 

25  West  45th  Street,  New  York  City 


[  588  ] 


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